#i really like exploring the little we get of stanley

[lixel-5]

i love dissecting the stanley parable narrator

at first, you think he’s a sadistic bitch

then you realize he really just wants to show stanley and the player his story

then, you realize maybe he didn’t make this entire game.

and. oh god. he doesn’t know anything about this game. he’s almost completely clueless, he’s literally just reading off a script. he can’t remember anything that’s not currently happening.

he’s a narrator and nothing else, he’s not meant to remember or comprehend. he’s just meant to read a script.

at first he’s dominating and powerful, but it’s all a mask. he’s at the mercy of Stanley. of the player. of us.

and, isn’t that what every fictional character is? a play toy for us?

but he knows. he’s well aware of his existence as a fiction. he hates it. oh how he despises it.

[darlingdaisyfarm]

Ford x fem!reader x Stan

minors dni

Stan’s grip on you tightens, pulling you against his frame as he crashes his lips against yours. There’s no hesitation, just raw, impatient hunger, the kind of kiss that takes your breath away and leaves you wanting more. His hands roam with a boldness that leaves no room for doubt, fingers digging into your hips as if claiming you.

From behind, Ford’s approach is way softer. His lips ghost along the curve of your neck, pressing tender slow kisses to your skin. Such contrast between them makes you dizzy, overwhelmed by the intensity of their touches. You groan softly, caught in the heat of it all, and instinctively lean back into Ford’s embrace. There Stan's face visibly frowns.

Stan pulls back just enough to mutter, “Don't let him think he's in charge here.” his tone is rough, tinged with jealousy, his hand slides over your side, possessive and demanding as if trying to take you away from his twin.

Before you can respond, Ford’s voice cuts through, quiet but confident. “She can decide for herself, Stan,” he murmurs, his lips grazing the shell of your ear, sending a shiver through you. “can’t you, darling?”

The tension between the brothers is palpable, but so is the way their hands explore your body. Stan’s touch is firm, always a little too eager, while Ford’s fingers trail gently over your skin, savoring every inch. They both can’t get enough of you. Stan’s lips crash back into yours, but Ford’s kisses never stop, his mouth pressing slow, sensual kisses along the sensitive skin of your neck, you literally melt between them. 

A loud moan escapes your lips when Stan's hand slaps your butt, you sob from a little pain and feel Ford's body tense behind you as he glares at his brother. “What? Are you trying to make me look bad?” Stan huffs.

Ford smirks softly, nipping at your skin gently before whispering, “no? Im just appreciating how beautiful she is.” his touch is feather-light, contrasting with Stan’s more possessive grip. “and I'm trying to please her, Stanley, not hurt her."

“Yeah? well, I’d like to appreciate her too,” Stan bites out, jealousy bubbling inside him. “don’t forget who’s been here longer.” he murmurs into your mouth and leans in again, capturing your lips.

You whimper softly, overwhelmed by their attention, your face all flushed as you try to hold yourself. Both men vying for your attention. Ford smiles against your skin. “Good girl,” he praises softly.

Stan, at the exact same time, mutters, “Atta girl.”

They both fall silent as their words intersect in the most unexpected way. They pull away, looking at each other over your shoulder, realizing what just happened. There's an awkward silence for a moment, but then Stan huffs in annoyance, his grip on your waist tightening. “Seriously? you gotta steal my lines now?”

Ford, always calm, arches an eyebrow, and the corner of his mouth twitches in a smirk. “Didn’t realize praise was trademarked,” he remarks dryly.

You laugh softly, but the sound breathy from arousal. "Are you really arguing about this right now?” you ask them, needing their attention and kisses so badly, you don’t want that to stop.

Stan shoots a half-grin your way, nodding. “You better believe it, sweetie. I’m not lettin’ this nerd outdo me.”

Ford still remains calm and patient, although his hand slides up, cupping your chin, gently turning your face towards him. “Outdo you? Stan, we’re not in a competition.” his lips gently touch yours as he murmurs, “we’re both making her feel good.”

Stan’s cocky grin widens, and he leans in, his voice rough as he rests his hands on your thighs. “Speak for yourself, i think she likes me better.”

Ford chuckles smoothly, rolling his eyes and pressing another kiss to your shoulder, his breath tickles your skin pleasantly. “Is that so? Why don’t we let her tell us herself?”

Your heart pounds, your body burns at their touch and it takes your breath away when their eyes focus solely on you, waiting, watching. “I. . . I like both of you,” you admit breathlessly. “please, just- just continue, I need you both.”

Stan’s eyes light up, his fingers slide lower, his thumb brushing teasingly along your hip. “That’s my girl.”

Ford’s touch remains soft still, his lips pressing a delicate kiss to your neck as he murmurs against your skin, “You’re perfect, darling.”

[sillyjpeg]

BOOK OF BILL WEBSITE CHANGE

this contains MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE WEBSITE CHANGE. if you want to find shit urself, dont read this!!!

also this is part one of probably many bc i cant fit everything in here. curse you image limit

i wont be going over alot of the not as important stuff, but still go explore the website for it because i got alot of good laughs!

RIGHT OFF THE BAT. In the top right corner of the screen when the lightning flashes, there are words revealed carved in the wall. it reads: VALLIS CINERIS. when this is typed into the computer it gives this video:

haunting. really giving me analog horror vibes. wasnt sure what else to do with this though.

I also noticed that on the candle in the right side of the desk, there is a code

this is decoded used the rune code, and translates into CURSED. when put into the computer, this is what is given back:

interesting.

One of the first things me and my friends did was go through the main characters names. the most interesting one of these for me is definitely Stanley, but i want to go over Pacifica first because Stanleys is LONG.

When you type in Pacifica you get this:

I love her signature btw. BUT if you type in Platinum Paz, you get somethin very, very interesting.

This may not be in the right order so forgive me, but at the end of that code, if you use a shift decoder (im so smart sue me)

it says: "STAY AWAY FROM HER CIPHER. SHE HAS THE PROTECTION OF THE LUMBERFOLKS SPIRITS"

pacificas character development has always been special to me, and this was honestly chilling. in the book of bill we see that she has nightmares about the lumberjack, and this shows how much guilt she carries. her finally finding her peace with what happened made me smile :)

but as nice and heartwarming as this is, were moving on to STANLEY PINES! and oh BOY are the stanley lovers having a field day. so first of all, if you type in Stanley, it will take you to a few different links. including gold chains, brass knuckles, an 8 ball cane, a fez, and a colonel neck tie. funny right? if you keep entering his name, this pops up:

Below this is a bunch of things with the label of being shameful. one of them is very interesting but im gonna put some lighter stuff first for the sillies.

i need alex to show us the photos from the hunky drifters catalogue alex can you hear me please i mean WHO SAID THATTTT WHO SAID THATTTTTT

ALSO NO ONE COMING TO HIS FAKE FUNERAL EXCEPT HIS MOM :( she loved her little free spirit stanley

ALSO- him stripping for flour in Tijuana, again, i need photographic evidence.

his ex wives list also made me giggle. he was MARRIED TO OLD GOLDIE????? also Marilyn being Eda made me giggle, i love the fact that they got married at some point. get them back together please. also stan having smaller hands than ford and being self-conscious about it stan i love you mwah mwah mwah

ALSO FILBRICK TRYING TO SELL STAN FOR GETTIN AN F- PLEASE

anyways now onto the section at the bottom of the Wheel of Shame page!

Its titled : HOW HE BEAT ME. im not adding a photo bc ur guy is running out of room :(

you have to click on this repeatedly to get anything good out of it, so i took the liberty of milking it for all it had!!! i didnt take screenshots of everything because some of it was redundant, but here are the interesting and or funny bits:

just reiterating, this is not all thats in there, im just putting parts that stood out to me. please take the time to go through all this urself bc its a TREAT.

now into the crazier stuff

hes obviously having some sort of breakdown, just like we see at the end of the book of bill. the last page i decoded myself, and i got this using all the different decoders:

"THROUGH LQS SFSE CN EVERYONE IVE EVER"

for "LQS SFSE CN" i used the original bill cipher code, and im not sure why it gave me this. a smarter, better decoder probably has the answer.

i can theorize a few different things on what this could possibly mean even with it not being all decoded. the one that comes to mind is "I can still see through everyone ive ever met" maybe knowing too much? but without the middle part decoded i cant say much. if you have the solution for this please leave a comment as any help would be greatly appreciated. this all did drop a few hours ago so i doubt many people are working on decoding all this.

UPDATE!! I TRANSLATED IT WRONG.

IT SAYS “THROUGH THE EYES OF EVERYONE IVE EVER”

this makes alot more sense. bill can see through others eyes so it most likely is refering too how he possesses people and sees through their eyes. In the book of bill he shows how angry he is having to watch the Pines family be happy.

It says that when he closes his eye, he can still see through the eyes of everyone hes ever…possesed? probably. So can Bill still see through Ford, or maybe Dipper, and he cant turn it off. Whenever he closes his eyes he is haunted by the happy life he failed to destroy. To see through their eyes.

This poem using gambling as a way to describe Stan's life choices really struck me. the more i thought on it the more it made sense. he gambled that Ford's project would probably still work, gambled with all of his sham products. His entire life has been a betting game. The most interesting thing about all this is the end of the poem. It reads

"IM STILL ON YOUR MIND"

this has been a theory for awhile in the gravity falls community that if stan got back all his memories, including ones about bill, wouldnt bill come back? for me this confirms the theory, and opens up a whole new can of worms which i will talk about later.

I have reached my image and video limit, but expect more posts!

stay weird yall :)

[ceaselesswatchersspecialboy]

Okay here we go

Does Stanfraud's eye still bleeds, like when Bill was possessing Ford or doesn't because of his bigger connection to Ford's body?

Is Stanfraud an uncle/big brother figure to Soos, like Stanley is his dad figure? Does Bill even care about him even a little😢

I know that the main focus of this au is on Bill, but since Stanley didn't try to pretend to be Ford, how did Stanley's and Filbrick's first meeting went after the whole "getting kicked out" thing"? Especially since both Stan and Ford were definitely broke at the time

You mentioned that Bill still has access to a little portion of his powers, what are they exactly?

Anyway your au is genuinely awesome and seeing it on my dash is always a huge treat 💛💛💛

Okay the first question I really want to answer because I’ve been thinking about this:

— His eye definitely bleeds on occasion. Even though he is far more connected to Ford’s body here, he’s still a demon possessing a host. He shouldn’t be there. There’s some outer force keeping him trapped. So I have thought about the fact there would probably be some lasting impacts on the body due to possession exposure for so long, such as the eye bleeding becoming a regular problem and gradual loss of vision in that eye. There may also be other physical impacts, but I’ll work on those when I manage to get down an official design for him.

— Great News! He is like Soos’ weird uncle! That may be where he learned to be somewhat decent around kids, honestly. He absolutely tried to mess with him at first, make jabs, tell him the date of his death, attempt to drive him to madness just a little (this is why Stan had to get rid of the last handyman), but Soos proved to be incorruptible and took all of Stanfraud’s weirdness in stride. Bill does end up caring about him. He goes as far as to liking their conversations. Soos keeps up with his chaos! Even Bill isn’t sure what’s going on in that head of his (when he gets his own body back he’s going to find out).

— Though Bill is the main focus of the plot-change, the other aspects are equally as important and so I’m glad they also have people’s interest! Their first meeting is… tense, to say the least. If Filbrick has any regrets, which I think I’ll leave up to interpretation, he’s far too stubborn a man to show them, and would rather dig himself further into a hole than admit he made a mistake. Stan desperately just wants to ignore all the scathing comments and get this little reunion over with, until Filbrick makes a comment about Ford, then Stan snaps. You can insult him, he probably deserves it, but not his brother. Sure, they may not be his brother right now, but the intent is there, and that’s what counts.

It cuts everything short, with Stan grabbing Fraud and telling him they’re leaving (He doesn’t complain).

With Filbrick, I do kind of want to explore their dynamic over the years while he’s still alive, especially with Stan, but also with how he’d treat ‘Ford’ and his odder behaviour. I don’t want to just make Filbrick a one-dimensional character though, as I think there’s a lot to be said about the cycle of abuse and parental projection so. While the AU may be based around the question ‘what if Bill got stuck possessing Ford?’ The answers it has lead me down a lot of different paths to explore — such as this!

— The powers he has access too lessen over time, but currently he is somewhat capable of seeing potential future outcomes (ciphervoyance), pyrokinesis, telekinesis, faster healing factor and teleportation. Note that all of these are in a much weaker state and drain Ford’s body and by extension Bill heavily — especially teleportation. Doing that once can cause him to pass out, so it’s more of an emergency thing, most his abilities are honestly. Too much focus is required.

And I’m so happy to be a little treat on your dash!! I hope you enjoy all this just as much!

[r0se1111]

Stan Pines x Reader

Hello! I haven't posted any writing in like a month rip... I had midterms BUT I survived and have returned to bring you some angst/comfort Stanley stuff!

Also my inbox is still very much open for requests! I am itching to write but lacking inspo I would appreciate requests for any one of my fandoms!

Loosely based on this (only like the last paragraph lol). You and Stan got married when he was technically legally Stanford Pines and Stanley Pines was technically legally dead. Ford comes back and you want a divorce and to really marry your real husband. Enjoy :)

The realization that you were married to Ford hit you in the middle of a quiet night watching movies. The kids had moved back home for the fall, and you, Stan, and Ford were determined to get through a painfully poorly acted black and white horror film. You were snuggled next to Stan, your legs swung over his lap and his hand firmly and affectionately squeezing your knee, reminding you of his gentle strength that made little sparkles catch in your chest.

A flick of gold caught your interest, your eyes abandoning the grainy television screen to watch Stan's hand in its movement on your skin. More specifically, his wedding ring. The one that matched yours, a simple gold band because you thought a diamond would be too impractical (and because the two of you were dead broke when you'd gotten married). You smiled warmly and your heart filled with light and unfiltered adoration as you took one last peek at Stan's ring, then turned back to the TV, comfortable in the utter security of being his.

A soft rustling of fabric on fabric caught your ear and you saw Ford adjusting in his own seat next to you and your husband. You blinked absentmindedly as you watched him get comfortable. Then you realized. "Oh my god." You sat up and Stan's hand halted in its gentle exploration of your exposed knee.

"What? You shocked by that extremely predictable plot twist? Oh, but who could have guessed that the murderer was really the father the whole time!" Stan joked, jostling you lightly with a chuckle.

"No-I. Oh my god." You grabbed his left hand and held your own up next to it, displaying your matching rings. "Stan. We aren't married."

"What-huh? I think the last 30 years would say differently, hun." He chuckled again, but you could see a note of concern in his eyes. Even Ford had paused the movie and tilted his body towards you two in curiosity.

"I'm legally married to Stanford Pines. Because technically, Stanley Pines is dead." You clarify, looking between the two brothers and watching the gears turn. "And that worked out perfectly fine before. But now you're back and- well- no offense but I think we need to get divorced." You grimace awkwardly as you address Ford, moving to swing your legs off Stan's lap. Another thought enters your whirling mind as you turn back to look up at Stan, who looks a little like he's trying to do some very complicated mental math. "And you need to legally come back to life." You jut your finger into his chest with a pointed expression.

Stan watches your finger prod into his chest and sputters, "I can't just un-fake my own death. Why don't we just go on like we've been doin'?" He lifts his hands placatingly to you before pointing to Ford accusingly. "But you are divorcing her."

Ford flushed a little, "No problem there."

"Hey! You would be so lucky to be married to her!"

"Do you want us to get divorced or not?" Ford looked tiredly at his brother.

Before anymore squabbles could break out between the two, you interrupted with a question of your own. "What do you mean go on like we've been doing? Why don't we really get married?"

Stan's eyes darted around your face like a cornered animal and you watched him consider your words. "I just mean-" He leaned back into his seat defeatedly, "we already live together, you know how I feel, I know how you feel, what's the big deal?"

You heard Ford suck in a breath and cough something about refilling the snacks before he quickly shuffled from the room, somehow sensing the oncoming storm.

You frowned and jolted your head back a little, leaning out of Stan's space. "The big deal?" You asked weakly, the sharp sting of unexpected hurt making your voice small. "I want." You swallowed to steady yourself. "I want to marry you. You." You reached forward and took his hand with the ring, enforcing your sentiment emphatically.

Stan stared down at your hand on his, suddenly mute and devoid of his usual joking air. For a horrible moment you thought, maybe he doesn't want to marry me. Maybe I'm asking too much, maybe I'm scaring him off. You bore these doubts with shaky confidence as you continued to watch Stanley's expression, trying to read something there that would let you know all those thoughts were wrong.

His hands are trembling.

You feel it before you see it. Those big, strong hands of his, usually so firm and reassuring on your arms, knees, jaw. They're borderline quivering under your touch. "Stanley?" You all but whisper, afraid of shattering the quiet tension that filled the air.

Stan worked down a swallow before replying, in the softest voice you'd ever heard him use "You really wanna marry me?" And the way his voice croaked from his throat, the raw vulnerability it revealed in him, you physically felt your heart ache at his words.

"Oh. Oh, Stanley. You're so. I-" You took a shaky breath, maneuvering your hands to intertwine with his and provide a steady anchor. "Of course I want to marry you. I love you. I've loved you for 30 years."

Stan sniffed roughly and flickered his eyes up to yours for a moment, and you saw the conflict there. The years of self-doubt and loneliness piling up, making him think this kind of life wasn't for him. His hands moved to trace up your hands, wrists, and settle on your forearms where they flexed and tickled the sensitive skin there "You good?" You ducked your head to make full eye contact with him, hoping your expression all but radiated the love you feel for him. Hoping he could somehow feel it all just from looking at you.

He chucked wetly and nodded. "Just makin' sure you're real s'all." He squeezed your shoulders for emphasis, making you giggle. If you thought your smile to him was bright, his returning grin was all but blinding. He always loved making you laugh, turning to your joy like a sunflower to the sun.

You leaned in and kissed him softly, the way he secretly really likes it. He claims to enjoy those deep, passionate, dramatic kisses the most, but you can tell from the stutter of his hands and the hitch of his breath that these gentle touches mean more to him than he'd admit. He's starved for it. You think. I wanna give it to him, until he's not hungry anymore.

Bringing your head back, you bask in his warm gaze and take advantage of his silent state. "Stanley Pines." You reach down and work his ring off his finger, holding it up in the few inches between your faces. "Will you marry me?"

This gets you an exhale turned into a real laugh that you all but melt at, so relieved at his happiness. Stan reaches his own hand to remove your ring and holds it up next to his. "Only if you marry me too."

Giggling like a couple of teenagers, the two of you slide your rings back in place, whispering little yeses between hushed breaths and chaste kisses, as if the word is holier if only heard by two.

"Are you two decent? Please don't tell me you’re having sex on the couch." A very concerned sounding Ford calls from the kitchen, just out of view.

"No, we're both very naked and sweaty all over the family couch. Don't come in." Stan shouts back, bringing your legs back over his lap and pulling you close by your waist. You can't help the flutter in your stomach at this casual display of strength and possession, shuffling your body to get even closer to the man.

"Don't listen to him, we're fine!" You yell, holding back a giggle as you elbow Stan.

Ford enters slowly, and the relief on his face is palpable. Whether it's because you and Stan have resolved your little moment or whether it's because you are not in fact having sex on the family couch, you don't know. He relaxes back into his seat, pressing play on the remote. Things are quiet and calm for a moment and you bask in the domesticity and comfort of it all.

Then you feel Stan's hand wandering dangerously high on your thigh, circling inwards. "Stan!" You hiss, slapping his hand away playfully.

He's about to respond when Ford interrupts "Stanley, really. Keep your hands to yourself, that is my wife after all."

You smile affectionately and bite back your laugh at Stan's indignant "why yOU-"

In between squabbling words and some very rude hand gestures, you can't help but think how lucky you are to have this love, and this family, in your life.

[fordpinesthemanyouare]

Ford x Fem!Reader

Math Assistant Pt.3

Summary: Ford needs himself an assistant, Stanley makes an online post for him and BOOM there you are. Warnings: Age gap... but that's what you're here for me thinks A/N: Wanted to get this up before I leave for vacation, still serving nothing sandwiches but HEY were getting somewhere huh? I need that six fingered freak dude, like... it's so bad that I had to bring it up in therapy. Tags <3: @potato-painter

----------

Her car followed behind the red El Diablo that had picked Stanford up from the diner as she was returning to her car. She saw another older man in the driver seat who she assumed must have been the twin brother Stanford mentioned. She didn't get a good look at the driver before she got inside her own car, the late spring sun making its descent over the looming trees turning the sky a deep orange. Had she and Stanford really been talking for that long? The shining red car turned out of the diner parking lot, and y/n followed suit, rolling down her windows and turning up the volume to the music she had been listening to on the long drive to this desolate town. Before leaving the diner together, Stanford had told her to just follow in his car and he would lead them to where she would be spending the next few months. 

Bumping her head along to the music as she drove down the two lane road, her mind began to wonder what her time here in Gravity Falls would look like. She had always been in the lab or classroom working on ever growing math equations for most of her adult life, but she always felt a deep connection to nature, specifically Oregon’s natural woods. Since moving here to complete her schooling she loved the natural aura these woods produced, and now here she was, completely surrounded with the strong trees, she couldn't have felt more at peace. The completion of her master’s was long and grueling work that kept her away from exploring the woods, and being a thirty year old completing another degree, there was not much time for camping. Y/n had a tendency to become completely involved with her work very quickly, locking herself in the apartment she was renting near campus for days without anybody seeing her (not unlike someone else we know).  

The El Diablo turned onto a dirt road into the woods, the lights from the main road fell behind them as they continued their way into the ever growing dark forest. The two pairs of headlights were the only lumination on the long road, and the lights highlighted the seemingly eerie pointed signs nailed to the trees along the road with large question marks hand painted over them. She couldn't help but take in the amount of trees that were covered in these signs, she suddenly felt very nervous about the situation the car was lurching towards. She still had no idea what to expect, even with the long conversation Stanford and her had just been having, and arriving while it was quickly turning dark might not have been the best idea for her nerves. She breathed in through her nose, and out of her mouth to attempt to drown the anxiety brewing in the pit of her stomach as they pulled up to a lone… shack? Cabin? Store? The lights around the establishment lit the area up better for her to read the sign on the side of the building: “Mystery (S) hack”. The ‘S’ of the sign had fallen on the side of the roof; she noticed it now read ‘Mystery Hack’ and smiled a little, as the two cars pulled closer to the side of the house to park. They certainly weren't wrong about having a parking lot in front of their… home? She was certainly confused and was in thought about what she was getting herself into as she turned the car off, rolled up the windows, and began to grab any loose items to put in her purse. 

A loud abrupt knock on the window caused her to gasp and jump in the driver's seat, turning to see what monster had scared her while she was so deep in thought. Her eyes met with Stanford’s… no someone who looked similar but different in the setting sun’s light. His frame was slightly bigger at the almost the same height Stanford is, but he was wearing a shirt that had a few buttons undone from the top revealing his broad and hairy chest; he had similar glasses to Ford as well. He was flashing her a toothy grin before speaking “Well are y’gonna come out and take a tour or what?” She just stared at him, her face flushed from the scare and her mouth opening and closing not unlike a fish from water. The man laughed at her, loud and heartily, before she could hear Stanford say slightly muffled from the windows “Stanley get away from her car please.” The man took a few paces back from the window, while holding his hands up in defense, chuckling still with a smile “I wasn’t even doing anything!” 

Her heart was still racing; she grabbed her purse and stepped out of the car into the dirt parking lot, feeling towered over by Stanford's twins’ stance. She smiled past her nerves and offered her hand, “Hi there, Im Y/n, you must be Stanford’s twin he mentioned”

He gave her a smirk and an eyebrow quirk at that before grabbing her hand in his large calloused one, shaking it he introduced himself as Stanley. His broad hand had completely engulfed hers as he spoke, “He was talking about me huh? Were you excited to meet me or something, doll?” Before she could stutter out a response, feeling her face heat up at the pet name he casually called her, Stanley looked at his brother who was walking towards them “Stanford? You really were trying to seem as serious as you can point-dexter, you should probably try to loosen up a bit with your new assistant.” 

Ford rolled his eyes at his brother as he stood to the side of them, she turned to see him stand beside them with a casual smirk on his face at his brother’s antics. “A cute look on him”, the thought flashed in her mind and she dismissed it as quickly as it came. This was her new boss, that she was going to be living with and working with! She reprimanded herself silently for thinking such thoughts all while still looking at him, still she couldn't stop even when Stanford began speaking, her eyes darting to his lips as they moved.

“I was attempting to maintain professionalism with my new assistant, some of us have to maintain a sense of decorum.” Ford looked at Y/n, he didn’t want her to feel like she was not welcomed from their brotherly bantering, but she was already staring up at him from her stance. “You can also call me Ford if you’d like, I do know we will be spending a lot of time together over the next few months.” She nodded at that and looked between the two brothers. She couldn't help but think they were handsome when the two of them were towering over her like this,  laughing and bantering with each other. Stanley snorted in response to Ford, before she could speak. 

“Ha! Decorum, that's just your fancy word for being stuck up, if you loosen up a bit Y/n might actually take a liking to you.” Stanley jabbed Ford with his elbow in his ribs as he said it and turned to her while looking her up and down now, and she felt like she was put in the hot seat from his gaze raking up and down her body as she leaned against the door to her car. Her face was still slightly red from the last comment he had made, but she didn't falter as she regained some composure. She said nonchalantly to Ford’s twin, “I would love to take that tour if you're still offering, I just have to grab some of my things.”She smirked back at Stanley’s gaze on hers as she turned to walk towards the trunk of her car, popping it open with her keys. She pulled out two large suitcases that looked like they were about ready to burst open, the two men looked towards her things and then waved her towards the shack not mentioning the state her luggage was in.

The trio walked up the steps of the porch as Y/n and Stanley locked their cars almost in unison, they looked at each other and laughed together at the uniform way the cars beeped together. Ford turned over his shoulder and saw Y/n’s beautiful laugh ring out as she looked at Stanley, he couldn't help but feel something pang deep in his chest but he continued onward toward the door ignoring the feeling before she could notice his glance back. They entered the house (shack? cabin? showroom??) and she marveled at all of the large displays that stared right back at her. She was even more confused as they shut the door behind her and flicked the lights on, detailing the displays that were previously shrouded with darkness. As she set her things down by the front door, the large sasquatch model parked in the corner immediately caught her eye and noticed the sign that pointed conveniently between the model sasquatch’s legs and read “Sas-crotch”. She huffed a laugh before looking at Ford, “Does this happen to be the lucrative project we're working on?” gesturing towards the sas-crotch with a grin. 

Ford’s cheeks started to burn a bit at his new assistant’s teasing question, feeling more embarrassed at how his home had now been turned into a tourist trap. He rubbed the back of his neck a little awkwardly before starting, “Ah yes, that is part of Stanley’s… exhibits he curates for tourists to come visit during the day. This room and two others are the only rooms where people could be walking through, and it’s separated from the rest of the house. Let me show you to your room.” He walked through the back door of the showroom as she lugged her two heavy suitcases through the room and down the hallway they entered. Stanley stayed behind, muttering something under his breath about not including him on the tour and making fun of his work. Even though she admired all of the strange things in the front room as they walked through, she marveled at the assortment of displays. They continued farther into the house, it became more evident that she was walking into a home as the freaky displays were left in the front showroom. Down the hall now, pictures hung on the wall of family members and the two brother’s, she quickly passed them following Ford, but made a note to look further into them later following Ford as he continued down the hall. 

He had led her into the kitchen, and Ford had made a point in his mind beforehand to make sure to show her where the coffee machine was. He couldn't help but note that she drank just about as much coffee as him (if not more), and he also made an additional mental note to buy extra coffee grounds the next time they went to the store. “Here is where the fuel is,” Ford said while tapping the top of the coffee maker with his palm. She giggled a little, nodding in agreement “Glad you showed me the night before we begin our work, I might have needed to run to that diner for coffee.” He smiled at her and continued on their small tour of the house, she was still awkwardly rolling the luggage through all parts of the house. 

The pair continued down another hall and up a small flight of stairs until they were stopped in front of a door, he pushed it open and what revealed was a storage closet with a deflated air mattress in one corner. The room couldn’t have been more than eight feet across, and in the opposite corner of the small bed was a desk and chair. The chair contained some folded sheets, blankets, and towels, but otherwise the room looked like nobody had been in it for a long time. There was one window above the bed that was paneled with various geometric shapes, the light in the room showed some light cobwebs in the corners. As Y/n entered the room with her luggage, Ford moved in the hall flicking on more lights in the house letting her get settled in the small room. 

“The bathroom is just across the hall for when you need it, whenever you're settled in tomorrow I can show you more of the house and where we will be working.” Ford approached, leaning on the open door frame of the storage closet/bedroom looking at the way she was taking in the room, and beginning to open up the too-filled luggage. As she knelt in front of the two suitcases on the floor unzipping them she said “I appreciate that, I always forget how tired driving makes me and this town really is in the middle of nowhere.” Y/n turned her head and looked up at Ford with a smile, taking in the sight before her. His hair seemed run through with his hands and his turtle neck sleeves were bunched up around his elbows showing off his broad forearms. She was trying her best not to ogle him, but he wasn’t responding to her statement and just looking right back at her. Their gazes met each other for a few seconds, both just staring at each other through the silence, before Ford realized it was his turn to speak. He cleared his throat as his cheeks dusted pink and brought his hand behind his neck to rub it again, “Y-yes, I’m sure you're tired after a long day today, we'll meet together tomorrow to get started on everything” He turned to walk down the stairs before Y/n gave a half shouted “Wait!”. He stopped and walked the two paces back to the door, where Y/n was standing now in the room. 

“T-thank you Ford, I appreciate you getting me set up here and showing me around, especially that coffee machine.” She suddenly felt a little awkward stopping him just so she could stutter out a thanks, her face grew warm and the pit of her stomach seemed to fill her nerves with anxiety. Ford looked at Y/n again, drinking in her beauty as she was standing there thanking him. He could barely register her words before he smiled again at her, taking one last discreet view of her full body since she was now standing, he nodded. “Of course, I’m hoping we'll be able to make further progress than I have made, now with your help.” At that, he walked from the doorway feeling his sweaty hands finally begin to make their way to just being clammy, once he was half way down the stairs away from her. Once she was left in the room alone with Ford’s footsteps thudding down the stairs towards the kitchen, she let out a breath of air she didn’t realize she had been holding. Turning back to continue unpacking a little bit, grabbing some items for a shower she desperately needed to clear her impure thoughts of the man that just stood in her doorway. 

Downstairs, Ford was deep in thought on why his body was reacting this way as he headed back to the kitchen, leaving Y/n to finish getting settled for the night. He understood that yes, his assistant just so happened to be absolutely stunning, but what he couldn’t understand is that although the interview had opened her up a bit more to him, how could he still be nervous at this point? The two of them had shared several hours together at the diner talking about work and studies, they both had many similar interests and passions for learning and he felt that she was almost too perfect for this situation. As his mind fell deeper and deeper into overthinking the whole situation at hand, Stanley walked into the kitchen to see Ford braced over the counter, his six fingered hands gripping onto the lip of the counter as if it was the only thing tethering him to reality. Stanley cleared his throat and Ford jumped slightly before turning around to face his brother, his mind previously occupied with thoughts of his new assistant. Ford’s face was a bit flushed as he looked at Stan full on now either from his thoughts previously or because Stan had now scared two different scientists within the same day. 

Stanley immediately noticed the flush spread on Ford’s nose and cheeks, if he had no context of what had been happening he would have figured he just scared his twin. Alas, Stanley knew better than to assume he was flustered because he walked into the kitchen and scared him a bit, he knew that something had just happened while the two were touring the house. The shower upstairs distantly turned on, letting both men in the kitchen know you were now completely out of earshot, a shit eating grin pulled on Stan’s lips. Ford preemptively shook his head in disagreement before Stan had even begun speaking, which caused Stan to laugh. 

“I knew I shoulda’ kept her resume from you” He laughed again looking at Ford’s now raised eyebrows at his claim, before continuing, “What? I figured you would be able to maintain, hm, what word did you use earlier? ‘Decorum’ what a load of shit, have you seen her? What happened up there to make you turn this red?”. It had been a long time since Stanley had seen his brother flustered at all, let alone because of an attractive person. That last thought to himself left him feeling a twinge of sadness in his chest. His brother had been gone for so long and had barely had any time to experience a meaningful romantic relationship, at least that he was aware of. Not that Stan wasn't checking out the new assistant earlier by the cars, and he may have been a little charmed at their unison car locking. However Stan wasn't stupid, he had certainly noticed the glances Y/n stole from his twin in the short time the three of them were together. She would look at his jaw or his hands for just a second too long, a second too long for Stan to notice the little hints before Y/n and Ford left to tour the rest of the house without him. 

“Absolutely nothing happened Stanley, I showed Y/n to her room and that was it. She mentioned that she was tired, so I politely took my leave. I am not sure what you are insinuating here Stanley, but whatever it is, it isn’t happening.” Ford’s poker face regarding his heart, definitely needed work, his blush deepened in his cheeks and his eyes couldn’t meet his twins’. Ford seemed to look at anything in the kitchen other than his brother’s incredulous stare, he began organizing the pile of papers on the kitchen table as he almost waited for Stan’s rebuttal. 

Stanley almost laughed at Ford’s feeble attempts at playing stupid, but he figured he wouldn’t pry on Ford especially with how he looked when he walked into the kitchen, as if he was in the middle of solving the world’s hardest equation. “If you wanna leave it at that, then I won’t make you talk” Stanley turned to leave Ford once again, figuring it was time to hit the hay anyways. He mumbled a goodnight to Ford before heading towards his own room, Ford could barely share the same pleasantries before registering Stanley had in fact not broached further on the subject of his new assistant. Ford was quickly left alone with his thoughts again in the empty kitchen, hearing the water trickle in the distant shower upstairs reminding him once again of the time that was yet to be spent together in the lab. 

He stood in the kitchen for a moment thinking over how Stanley had entirely dropped the teasing conversation, and frankly, it seemed like Stanley knew what he was doing by deliberately not asking. Ford groaned at the thought, bringing his hand up to his face to rub the bridge of his nose under his glasses in slight annoyance. He realized it wasn't far out from when everyone typically goes to bed, so he began to head for the basement when he stopped in his tracks when the distant running water stopped in the shower upstairs. Ford’s mind raced for a moment, running through the different courses of action. Should he head upstairs to make sure that you are all settled for the night, or should he continue to the basement for the night letting her get settled in by herself? He was almost paralyzed in thought as his heart continued to beat faster than before in his chest. 

Ford made his decision as he heard the bathroom door distantly open, as he pulled the vending machine door into its hinges and shut it closed behind him. 

---------

[anticipatecrime]

'𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩'| colby brock x male oc

a/n: enjoy ;) summary: sam, colby, corey and jake plan to go to the witches forest, little do they know, they’ll meet a friend of jennifers. he’s a lonely medium studying witchcraft, what happens when colby starts to feel a pull towards him? his feelings confuse him, and make him question himself. 

words: 8.8k (TOO FUCKING MANY, i got lost in the sauce🫠)

sam sat on his couch, dialing the number of the woman him and colby met at the stanley hotel. the latter began to film as she picked up. 

“hello?”

“hi is this jennifer?” they shared a look towards eachother, acknowledging the awkwardness.

“yes, this is she.” 

“sweet uh.. about that forest, was that a legit offer? colby and i have been talking over the past few weeks and maybe.. are you in la now?” he asked, curiously.

“yeah i am”

“cool so maybe tomorrow or later this week we could meet up, and we’d probably be filming it so if that’s cool with you, you could tell us more like about what the forest is and then maybe like find time to schedule to go out there or something?”

“yeah we can meet up.” jennifer said ominously. 

“okay cool, maybe tomorrow we’ll schedule a time then.” sam started to laugh from the awkwardness, and immediately after the phone call was over he threw the phone onto the table and freaked out. “why is it so awkward?” he cringed.

“everytime we talk to her.” colby chuckles.

they both start talking to the camera about their plans with the witches forest, and planning a whereabouts for the meetup. 

a day had past, and sam, colby and jake were in the car, driving to the area where they were supposed to meet up with jennifer. colby had parked very close to another car in attempts to not be in the way of someones driveway. “can’t park in this driveway brother, gonna get a ticket.”

“can’t go to jail again.” sam laughs.

“we’re in a neighborhood, it’s not that sketchy.” sam commented, as they all start talking about how creepy this whole situation was, joking about getting murdered. 

they walk into the park, and they look around until they see two people sitting at a park bench. “hey!” sam calls out, as he sees them. “nice to see you again!” he goes in for a hug with jennifer. 

“how was the shoot and everything?” he asked.

“it was good.” she responded, nodding her head, before looking over to her friend, the guy next to her. jennifer didn’t really care about meeting up with strangers but elias, found it sketchy, so he decided to come along as some sort of backup.

“hey, i’m elias, good to meet you.” he shook hands with the person closest to him, colby. 

“nice to meet you too.” colby smiled, curious about the guy infront of him. he looked pretty cool, his sense in fashion was definitely something out of a vintage movie. his hair was dark brown, about medium length. he had brown circle glasses pushed towards his nose, contrasting his freckled face. 

from what he was wearing, you could see a few tattoos under his sleeves, along with a few different ear piercings. ‘damn this guy is cool’ he felt like some kind of fangirl.

as sam talked to jennifer, colby starting asking questions to the other. “are you also into the paranormal?”

“yeah. i grew up around it my entire life, and now it just seeks me out i guess.” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “how’d you get into it?”

“that’s the same as one of my friends, corey.” he acknowledges. “honestly it’s not that exciting, me and my buddy sam would explore like abandoned places and stuff then it became haunted areas and now we think we’re haunted.”

“that’s cool.” suddenly jake climbs onto the picnic table, creating a thud sound. “jesus jake.” colby laughed.

“so do you guys chill at the park often?” jake tries to make conversation with the two.

“yeah.” they answer at the same time. the camera is held facing jennifer as she begins to explain why the cabin is haunted, and why it’s called the witches forest. 

“you really have to figure it out yourself.” elias commented, chuckling. 

“so you’ve been there too?” sam interrogates him. 

“you could say that, i also own a cabin about a mile out.”

“would you say it’s haunted?”

“oh definitely, in 1946 a couple moved into the cabin and after a few years they started like experiencing financial issues, and it caused a lot of stress between them and eventually the husband started drinking, and one night he killed his pregnant wife before shooting himself in the head.” elias smirked, watching their jaws drop. “let’s just say i’m not legally able to rent it out anymore because of what happened to the last guests we had.”

“holy shit.” sam looked to the guys, with wide eyes. 

“that’s actually insane.” colby said, rubbing his eye. “so do you live there or just use it as a vacation spot?”

“bit of both honestly, the spirits don’t bother me much. i was just there a few days ago and i stayed about three months, left with tons of scratches and stuff.” elias explained.

“do you still have visible marks?” 

“yeah, the longest one is on my leg, i can show you if you like.” the guys nodded, so he stands up and props his leg on the park bench, before rolling up his black pants. quickly a red shiny scratch is visible. it starts at his ankle and goes underneath his thigh. “it’s one of the weirder marks i’ve gotten. it’s shiny and feels almost like a burn, like blistered over and stuff.”

“holy shit, that’s crazy.” jake muttered.

“i don’t know if we should do this anymore.” colby laughs, jokingly crying.

“so on a scale of one to ten, how is this a good idea or are we going to die.” sam wondered.

“let’s just say it’s scarier then the stanley hotel.” jennifer answered.

“is that the key?” jake zooms into colby holding the key to the cabin. colby pauses for a second, having an idea. “would you let us see your cabin?” he asks to elias.

“uhh, i don’t know, i would have to be there to supervise.” “not just because i don’t know you, but also for you’re protection. the spirits know me well, even the negative ones, they don’t like other people.”

“jesus.” colby mumbles. “is that why you can’t rent it out anymore.” he nods slowly.

“we have a friend out there that we met from the summer camp thing. a few of them are still there. elias can probably get in contact with one of them to help you out. since they’re both wiccans.”

“so you’re friend is a... wait you’re a wiccan?” sam asks towards elias, pointing the camera in his direction, receiving a half nod. 

“after i became a medium it slowly transitioned into exploring witchcraft, i wouldn’t like 100% consider myself a wiccan but i do partake in that stuff.” he holds up his pagan necklace. 

“wow, so does your friend live around the cabin?” 

“yeah.” 

“now i see why it’s called witches forest.” sam laughed hesitantly. 

“so a lot of people there are wiccans i’m assuming?” colby asks, before receiving a nod. “witches forest, wiccans.” he does a weird voice to express how crazy this situation is.

“this is awesome, thank you so much for this, we would probably just of done another hotel video.” sam thanked her. “should we call corey?” he asks to the guys.

everyone begins to say goodbye, colby hugging jennifer and elias. “we’ll let you know how it goes.”

“but uh, i just wanted to say, i haven’t been there in awhile so be careful.” jennifer calls out to them.

jennifer and elias start walking back to their apartment. he glances towards the group they had just encountered. “they seem cool, colby’s pretty nice.”

“yeah i guess. i’m surprised you didn’t give them the key.”

“first, they’re strangers, second, they seem like novices, i don’t want their deaths to be on my hands.” elias joked.

“you could’ve gone with them.” she shrugs. elias pauses for a moment, thinking about it. maybe he should. they are trying to find the most haunted areas.. 

“i’ll think about it.”

it was early morning of the next day, and elias had been messaging with colby since he woke up talking about whether or not he should go up with them. colby has been trying to persuade him, borderline begging him to come. they think it would be awesome for the video and their paranormal experience. 

and secretly colby just wants to get to know him as well.

the four boys were in their car, on the way to the first house, to talk to a wiccan who is offering a reading, and more information on the witches forest.

“i was thinking about what the physic said a lot last night, about how corey and i are in danger, and i think they could be right. i hope we have service because we’ve never been in this forest, who knows, like what if we get lost right? that’s why i think bringing elias, who knows the area could be helpful.”

“honestly yeah, and he seems like a cool dude so.” jake shrugs, agreeing with the idea. corey then calls and agrees to come, making everyone so much more relieved. 

“let’s just act like we’re going to a cabin in the woods.” corey says, trying to lighten the mood as he gets into the car.  

they keep on driving, about twenty minutes out, pulling over only to get jake some food because he kept complaining about being hungry. they pull into a burger king, and grab some food. colby suggests sitting at a table so he can fill both corey and the viewers in about elias and the other wiccan.

“just to catch everyone up, we got some food and we are ten minutes away from the forest!” sam starts it off.

“i’ve been texting with both this wiccan and elias, who agreed on meeting us, but they want to meet us at her house. she was just like ‘yeah swing by, and i’ll show you my tarot cards and stuff.’” 

“well, let’s hope we don’t die.”

they walk out to the parking lot, and talk a bit more, explaining to corey. “me, colby, and jake met up with jennifer and this new guy, elias, so the reason why he’s texting to this random wiccan is because they’re friends, them two would meet up with her at summer camp, and she’s going to tell us about the area.” sam said.

as they start driving, they encounter the fog of the mountains, and they struggle to see out the window.

“yeah, elias is going to be with the wiccan, so atleast it’s not like we’re by ourselves with a complete stranger.” colby mentioned.

“well we don’t really know him either.”

“better then completely alone though.” he shrugged, continuing to drive until google maps said he was at the correct address.

“so what have they told you?” sam asked. 

“nothing really, just gave us the address and said see you then.” colby explained, shutting the car door. they walked up to the door, not even having to knock before someone opened the door. “hey colby!” elias said, arm on the door. 

“yoo hey.” colby gave a hug before smiling. “thanks for taking up our offer on this, having you here and talk about some of the stuff is super great for the video.” 

colby felt nervous, seeing elias stand confidentially at the door, he looked more relaxed today, grey sweatpants, black hoodie and his usual brown glasses. you can tell he wasn’t planning on coming. 

in the light, it was much easier to see his face. he also realized elias’ hair was slightly curly. 

“yeah it’s no problem.” elias said as the other wiccan presented herself. “good to see you again.” 

“hey, how are you guys?” she asked. “wanna come in? if you don’t mind i’ll have to sage you though.”

“yeah it’s no problem.”

after the boys were saged, they sat around the table and began to talk about the witches forest. “so why is it called witches forest?” sam asked, getting down to business. 

“there’s a lot of rituals that go on in this area, it used to be a spot with mobsters, there’s a lot of satanic rituals, which aren’t as bad or evil as you would think.” elias nods along, agreeing with her. 

“so you guys would consider yourselves wiccans in the way that you both study witchcraft. 

“yes, i identify as a wiccan, but i feel like it has a different perception of what you would think.”

“okay so can you explain that to us.” sam asked.

“i like to live my life by the moon cycles, so full moon would be a time of like creativity and energy, where as new moon is more introspective and..” she trails off as the door opens for the second time. 

“we’re trying to spend the night here, in the forest. do you think that’s a good idea or bad idea?”

elias grimances, shaking his head. 

“what’s that supposed to mean?!” corey fake cries.

“a lot of people have died up there.. not recently so i don’t think you’ll die.” she says positively. “if you want we can do a little tarot reading.” she suggests, waving over elias to help her with it.

“tarot reading?” colby repeats asking for clarification. 

“tarot cards really tell you what you’re feeling subconsciously, and they help give insight into the past, your future, or the present. and basically however you relate to the card, it tells you what’s going on with your inner-self or stuff you may be doing.” he explains, before sageing the cards.

“this basically helps to detach anything thats holding onto the cards, so for example, the past readings she’s done, it’s possible that those readings could effect yours. so when i sage the cards, it clears anything on them.” he hands over the cards to colby, who passes them to sam, to jake and then to corey, to get their presence onto the cards.

she takes the cards and sets them onto the table. a few gasps come from the guys after seeing the death card, “none of these are bad, so don’t be afraid.”

“the tower is an iffy card in my opinion, so it means danger and destruction, it’s basically like a very sudden unforeseen change, which means you have to rebuild. it can lead to the next chapter of your life. so it starts out negative and eventually it leads to rebuilding which is positive.” elias explains.

“yeah and chaos isn’t always a bad thing, which relates to the death card.” she taps onto it. 

“the next chapter of my life is death?” sam asked.

“no.” elias answered shortly. “the death card will almost never mean death or represent anything like that. it’s typically more like the end of an era, so it implies new beginnings. it also is commonly known as the card that describes self awareness.” he was briefly interrupted by a bang upstairs.

“this card is all about fear and anxiety.” she points out. “but not a real fear, more like you’re worrying about something too much. like it’s in your head, like when you can’t sleep and you’re terrified but it’s not something that you should be worrying about. it’s more like you’re imagining something, like making up a problem.”

“like making conspiracy theories about yourself.” jake adds in, earning weird looks from colby and sam.

“just being scared of something that isn’t that big of a deal, like you’re more afraid then you need to be.” elias adds.

“that’s basically our group.” sam comments.

they talked more about the different chapters of their life, corey refusing to do more tarot. she gave more advice on how to keep the guys safe at their campsite, like taking the sage, having a ring of salt and holding hands.

elias watches as they huddle into the corner of the room and talk about some of their plans together. “honestly guys, i don’t know if i can do this.” corey admits. “this shit is crazy, we don’t need more spirits trapped with us.”

“i think we just have to hurry up because it’s a few hours from sundown, and we don’t know the area too well, i don’t want us to get lost.” sam comments.

“do you think we should invite elias?” colby asked.

“brother, now why would we do that.” corey said, shaking his head.

“he knows the area, and i think he would be awesome for content, he can tell us more stories, we can get to know him and maybe do more ghost stuff with him in the future.” 

“i’m down.” jake shrugs.

“we don’t know him very well, but i do think he’d be beneficial for this.” sam doesn’t seem to care that much.

“okay well i won’t invite him if you guy’s arent sure.” they all to look corey. 

“fine, but i swear to god if he murders us, i’m going to murder you again.”

“okay awesome!” colby walks away from the guys and up to elias. “i was wondering if you wanted to come with us, like to our campsite.”

“oh. uhh, i mean i guess i could hang for a bit, but it would probably be weird to stay the night with you guys. my cabin isn’t too far away in the forest so i’ll go back there once you guys are settled in.”

“we’d be chill if you wanted to stay the night in a tent beside us or something, but it’s cool if not.”

“i’ll figure it out later.” he shrugs, and follows the guys to the car. elias sits in the passenger seat, sam giving it up to sit in the back, so he didn’t have to sit squished next to strangers.

they began to drive in the direction of witches forest, taking a right turn onto a gravel road. 

“so where do you suggest us staying the night exactly?” 

“well i would say definitely be near one of the main roads, so you’re near your car, but as in area, if you keep going down here, there’s some pretty flat ground with trees surrounding it.” elias points in the right direction.

they pull into a blank area, and start gathering their stuff. “just down this way.” he leads, while helping carrying one of their bags. 

“awesome, thank you.” sam thanks him, actually kind of surprised how much this stranger was helping them.

“do you need help setting up your tent, or?” he wondered.

“uhh..” jake mumbled, knowing he’s never put up a tent in his life. 

“that is a possibility.” sam chuckles. ”so like, did you group up in california or elsewhere?” he took what colby said earlier, about getting to know him, and ran with it.

“oh uh, no i grew up in a small town out of seattle, but i moved to la when i was 17.” elias answered, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

“oh cool. why’d you leave seattle?” jake asked.

“just bad memories i guess.” he took a deep breath. “the house i grew up in.. my brother he died there when i was 6. his death brought me into the paranormal world.”

“oh, i’m sorry for your loss.” colby commented, beginning to build the tent.

“don’t be.” elias laughed it off. “it was a pretty natural death, he was born with heart complications, honestly a miracle he lived till 14. he was very positive and i’m sure he wouldn’t want people mourning, so i choose not to i guess.”

“that’s a good way to look at it.” colby smiled at the other. colby took a liking to him, he wasn’t sure why though but it felt like something was pushing him to get to know him.

“so you said you’re a medium?” corey asked, helping colby with the tent.

“yeah, the thing with my brother, it guided me to other spirits and i just kind of fell into it all. i feel things more the most people, i hear more, i sense more.” he paused. “i don’t feel any presences here but i feel sadness and regret.”

“that’s honestly really cool, so to become a medium does it need to be something that happens to you or can you like learn and study to become one?” colby asked, setting up the camera on a camping chair, pointed to elias.

“in my opinion it has to come to you, you can’t work for it. if you are gifted with the ability you can learn and study to enhance it but you can’t force it.”

“the tent’s looking good.” corey nodded towards it. “but i swear to god i don’t want to sleep here.” he begs, making everyone laugh.

once everything was set up, and looking good, elias decided to leave. “i’ll probably head up to the cabin.” he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“yo, you sure?” jake asks, actually wanting him to stay. in the past few hours they’ve all been vibing pretty hard.

“yeah no pressure to leave.” colby said, giving him a smile. 

“i don’t wanna intrude too much on your video or anything, but feel free to come to the cabin if you have any problems or something crazy happens. can’t promise staying at the cabin will be any better but still. i have wifi, hot water, beds, all that stuff so don’t be shy.” elias smiled back.

“alright, thank you.” sam nodded. 

“make sure to say goodbye before you leave though!” elias called out, as he walked away. 

“bye!” colby shouted.

“cya!” jake yelled.

“dude, you’re staring.” corey pointed out, laughing at his friend. colby turned to look at him, before rolling his eyes.

“shut up, i just think he’s cool.”

corey winked to sam and jake, them chuckling to eachother.

it was hours later, maybe 3 or 4, and elias was in his cabin, drinking a glass of wine, while reading one of the books from the old bookshelf. his days here were simple. he’d tend to the plants, garden, read some books and drink wine. he wish he had a more extroverted life, and would sometimes regret missing out on opportunities. such as hanging out with the guys back at the campsite. 

he wondered why he didn’t just stay, when they were clearly okay with him there, but he was still unfortunately a stranger. they were okay with him there, but they didn’t want him there. 

‘god i need friends’, he thought. he’s been so lonely, his only friend being jennifer, and they weren’t all that close anymore since he’s started studying witchcraft. elias has only had a few friends in his lifetime, people thinking he’s weird or abnormal for his interests and gifts, and he’s only been in one relationship which ended around 6 months. 

he honestly hasn’t felt that interested in people, elias finds them too generic, but he did take interest in the group. no matter how goofy they all seemed, they were cool. especially colby, he seemed to care the most. and he was kinda cute so that’s a plus. but he was probably straight.

he paused, hearing a bang upstairs, before sighing. his only friends are the spirits of the forest. he took his glasses off and gave them a rub, as they got a bit foggy. 

‘maybe a bath will ease my mind’ as he began to run a bath he heard a scream for help. his eyes widened at the voice, that was definitely colby. 

“help!” it was a gut-retching scream. elias turned off the bath, and as he was running to the front door, he turned the outside lights on, immediately lighting up the area. 

“colby?!” he called out, opening the door. 

“elias?!” suddenly, he came into view. “holy fuck, thank god.” he sighed, relieved. he rushed to the door. 

“what the hell happened out there? where is everyone?”

“i-i i got lost, i don’t know where i am, i was chasing after a shadow and i thought sam and jake were after me but i went in circles and i walked for so long it’s been like 15 minutes and i don’t know where they are.”

“woah, colby are you hurt?” elias reaches out to the others side, seeing a few smaller scratches. he gently touches them, earning a hiss out of colby.

“ouch.” he chuckles. “anyways, i really need help finding them, i don’t know what the fuck happened.”

“you said you saw a shadow figure? was it just a shadow or were there any visible descriptions?”

“just a shadow.” he shrugs, shivering a bit. 

“theres been a few people spotting shadows around here, a lot of people think one of the main shadows, it’s of a larger male and it’s predicted that it’s the spirit of the husband i told you guys about earlier, and that he’s stuck in this forest as punishment.”

“jesus.” colby exhales. 

“here, come in for a second, i’ll get you a heavier jacket and i’ll get a bandage for your side.”

“oh, thank you so much.” colby rubs his neck, awkwardly standing in the others home. “this cabin is actually beautiful.” he said, not expecting it.

“haha yeah, i take pride in it. nobody ever is here to see how gorgeous the wood and plants are.”

“oh why’s that?”

“i just don’t have many friends.” elias said, while grabbing a few items. “gets lonely up here.”

“hey well, you can consider us friends, i think you’re cool as hell.” colby smiles, taking the jacket, and putting it over his shoulder. “it would be awesome to have you come with us to other haunted places.”

“i-” elias was about to decline, before he thought for a minute. he knew he would regret declining. “sure, why not.” he gestured for colby to move his arm so he could wrap his side. 

“that should do it.” he gave him a pat on the shoulder. “now, we really have to get you back to your friends, they’re probably freaking out.”

“yeah.” colby agreed, rubbing his side. 

“do you mind if i spend the night with you guys? i have a feeling.. like i can feel something bad in your future, and i don’t think it’s safe for you guys alone.”

“oh god..” colby sighed, not ready for whatever he’s talking about. elias grabbed a few more things, and shoved it into a backpack. “it would be appreciated if you stayed with us.” he laughed it off, pretending he didn’t care too much, but he actually felt pretty nervous about the idea. 

he’s never really found guys that attractive or anything but something about elias, it wasn’t even his looks, something about his personality or dare he say ‘spirit’ was alluring. colby just needed to know more, needed to get close to him.

“okay, let’s go.” he said, turning off the house lights, and turning on his flashlight. 

they walked through the forest, trying to avoid all of the unnerving noises they heard. “thank you.” elias said quietly.

“what? why?”

“because, today has been the most social interaction i’ve had in awhile.” he chuckled. they continued to walk in peaceful silence, colby instinctively walking closer to elias. they smiled to eachother, elias having to look away and blush out of sight. ‘jesus, what is happening to me.’

they walked a bit more, and finally began to see bright lantern lights, similar to colby’s. “guys!” he shouted.

“no way, colby!” corey shouted, running straight to him out of relief.

“guys!”

“holy shit it’s colby!” 

“colby!”

“what the fuck happened to you.” sam shook his head. they all looked closer and saw another person. as they got closer they realized it was elias.

“holy shit.” corey exclaimed.

“are you okay bro?” jake asked.

“the shadow person, i kept chasing it, i saw it again. it ran so i ran after it, i ended up going in circles and i got lost so i started screaming for help and i saw a cabin, thank god it was elias’.

“did you hear the scream? it was like a female scream.” sam explained. 

colby went to sit in a chair, his side aching. “no i didn’t, i scratched my side though.” he lifted his shirt to show the bandage. 

“dude, me and jake saw like a baby or something small hung.” sam said.

“bro, i looked at it, and my first thought was that it was a baby hanging, it was swaying and everything.”

“wait.. you said you saw a baby hanging?” elias looked at them in pure shock. “holy fuck.. you saw her.” he mumbled.

“what?” sam asked, eyes wide.

“what the fuck is going on.” corey shouted.

“the.. the story i told you guys, about the husband killing his pregnant wife. a few people i rented the cabin out to, they would see shadows of a hanging dead baby outside the windows.”

“holy fuck!” corey screamed, jumping before walking a few steps away.

“that is fucking crazy.” jake exclaimed, holding onto his head.

“i can’t believe this.” sam held the camera, beginning to shake. “okay, a rule, we can’t separate again.”

they began to talk about what the shadow could’ve been, talking about the biker kids they had seen earlier in the day.

“it definitely was not a biker, you would’ve heard it a mile away, and nobody just goes for a walk in the middle of the night.” elias shakes his head in disbelief at the situation. 

“i’m not staying out here any longer.” jake says, running into the tent. everyone else begins to pack away their stuff, making sure that if they got scared again, they could leave without having to worry about their scattered belongings. 

sam pulls out the camera once everything is put away, and gives the viewers a quick update. “just a little update guys, we did clean up our entire campsite, and now we’re going to chill in here for a little bit, because we don’t know what’s out here.” he gestures inside the tent.

“is it alright if i stay here? i don’t feel like walking back to the cabin.” he asks.

“oh yeah of course.” sam practically invites him in. “you’ll just have to deal with our gross selves.”

“i think i’ll be fine, i was a babysitter for 3 years of my life.” he joked, earning laughs from everyone.

a small fight ensues about sleeping bags with the guys, and elias sits off to the side of the tent, not wanting to get too close and make anyone uncomfortable. he watches as colby pokes around at corey’s pocket. 

“brotherrrr, scared the fuck outta me.” corey cries out. “it’s either colby hitting on me again or a ghost.” elias laughed at that.

“i like to use shrek’s belly as a pillow.” jake mumbles, away from the drama.

a few minutes go by, and bugs in the tent frighten elias, while sam and colby start swatting at them before jake and corey talk about the white people face. elias, guilty of making that face more then once tonight.

the rest of the night was filled with fivesome jokes, jake playing with shrek into the camera, dance parties, sam touching more spiders in the tent, and colby trying to rest his eyes.

he originally laid near corey, between him and elias. he was resting on the end of his sleeping bag, feeling exhausted with the night so far. after another bug was squashed, they placed the camera back in the center of everyone.

elias was the closest to the camera, slightly out of frame, colby close by, corey leaning to the front, jake beside him, and sam on the other side also out of frame. “who keeps farting?” colby asked jokingly annoyed.

“yo what is that smell bro.” colby started cringing, holding his nose, causing everyone to laugh, corey the most.

“who farted dude?” jake commented about the smell looking towards sam.

“i don’t smell anything.” he shrugged carelessly, elias agreeing with him.

“yeah cause it was you!” 

“someone ripped ass, and it was me two minutes ago.” corey revealed, laughing like a madman. 

“my face was right by your asshole!” colby shouted, making a disgusted face to the camera before slowly shuffling away from the guy, and closer to elias. he dramatically collapsed onto elias’ leg and begged him not to do the same.

colby found his leg oddly comfortable, holding onto it like a pillow. he didn’t want to get too over the top and make elias uncomfortable, so tried to stay away from the boys lap.

then, it was back to jake putting shrek up to the camera, pretending to ring an imaginary doorbell. 

“look guys, stop recording if we’re actually going to fuck.” corey pulled his sleeping bag over his face.

“yeah i don’t wanna be on camera.” elias said, holding his hands up, making everyone snicker. it was kind of awesome how they could go from complete strangers, thinking eachother was creepy, to then making jokes like this.

speaking of jokes, everyone made comments about colby and how he was sleeping all cuddly on the other, and god was it unbearable. 

it was awkward, and uncomfortable but oddly enough, the friendly teasing felt better then being alone, so he dealt with it, and listened to corey’s little story about the boys and the shadowman. 

suddenly, noises started getting louder. exhales, footsteps, bangings. corey felt uncomfortable, and kept demanding to leave the tent. everyone paused, trying to listen to the surrounding sounds, sam hearing a car, and elias hearing thuds. 

“yo, should we just try to go to sleep?” colby asked, genuinely really tired.

“uh, no.” corey answered like it was obvious

elias felt the need to interrupt. “listen, the noises are obviously scary and whatever, but you need to understand that you guys are overthinking. think back to the tarot cards. you are scaring yourselves.” he tried to explain, as a way to calm them down.

it definitely didn’t work, corey hearing another exhale, and telling everyone to get out of the tent as a safety precaution. 

eventually everyone began to rush out of the tent, into darkness, sam screaming for someone to get a light. elias put on his glasses, and grabbed a flashlight, pointing it around the camp.

he heard rustling coming from a near bush and started walking up to it, he peeked around trying to find what the noise could’ve been. “elias, hurry up!” sam called, as everyone began running to the car. 

he caught up to them, not caring anymore and jumping in the back with jake and corey. “holy fuck.” he exhaled. “where are we going?”

“jennifer’s cabin.” corey replied, nodding at the idea.

sam’s phone started to ring as colby was driving on a tight road. “yo, yo, look!” he answered the call, everyone hearing absolute gibberish. it was random noises, deep exhales and other strange noises.

“that sounds like someone fucking with us.” colby stated, as sam talked about telling all his friends he was coming here.

“holy shit, i don’t think it’s someone pranking you guys.” elias stared, wide eyed at his phone before holding it up so everyone could see. 

“fuck.” jake muttered. “answer! answer!”

elias answered the call, putting it on speaker phone. the sounds coming from his call was much different from sam’s. these, sounded like chants, as if a huge group of people were shouting into the phone, cursing the boy. “guys, what the fuck is this.” he had experienced everything, but never has he gotten no caller id calls, with scary ass chants. “are you fucking with me right now?” he asked the group, tears welling in his eyes.

“no! no! of course not!” colby assured him. “we don’t do shit like that.”

he pulled into the driveway of jennifer’s cabin, immediately opening the doors and seeing the pouring rain. at the door, jake started shaking the water off of him, complaining about being wet.

quickly, elias could see sam was struggling. he was digging through his bag trying to find the key. he was beginning to panic, and everyone was starting to realize. 

“wait you don’t have the key?” corey questioned, getting nervous. “sam.” he sighed.

“was it in your pockets or the backpack?” colby asked.

“when do you remember last having it?” jake watched as sam patted his pockets.

“n-no i had it today, i showed the girl that jennifer gave me the key.” he defended. “here, just check the car, i swear, i have it.” 

“really try to remember, did you put it in your bag or your pockets?” colby kept pushing.

sam frantically looked around the car as the others judged him, complaining and blaming him for losing the key. “hey honestly sam, don’t worry about it, it’s just a mistake.” elias tried to reassure him everything was fine, only for corey to say something.

“i thought.. it’s either here or in the backpack.. unless is it in our bags? should we check the trunk?” everyone was freaking out, and elias stood there awkwardly watching. he felt bad for sam.. he could feel the sadness and guilt dripping off of him.

“we need this key. we can’t get in. dude jennifer trusted us with this key, you can’t-”

“is this the only key?” “sam, are you fucking serious, dude. i’m not trying to be rude, but first you lowkey lost colby, and now you don’t have the key. i’m just saying, this is why i don’t like doing this type of shit.” corey raised his voice. 

jake and corey agreed they didn’t want to go back to the tent, as colby kept filming. elias took a breath before saying excuse me and pulling sam to the side. 

sam looked confused, but his guilt was overtaking it. “what?” he looked at the other, wondering why he dragged him a few feet away. 

“dude, don’t listen to them, losing the key, like i said is a simple mistake, any of them could have done it, they’re not upset at you, they’re just upset at the cirumstances. but you’re forgetting i have a place just a few minutes away.” elias tried calming him down, seeing tears well in his eyes. he could tell sam wasn’t one that could deal with being yelled at.

“it’s not anything big, it’s a two bedroom with a pull out couch.” elias shrugged. “please just accept my offer, alright?” sam nodded, wiping any sort of water away from his eyes.

“thank you elias, really.” sam suddenly grabbed onto him, giving him a side hug. 

“no worries.” he smiled, leading him back to the car, before they explained the plan to the others. everyone could see the disappointment in sam’s eyes, as he sat quiet in the passenger seat. 

jake whispered to elias, about what happened out there, him shaking it off as to say it was private. he guides colby down the different roads, and in a few minutes they were outside his cabin. 

“here we are!” he welcomes them inside, turning all the lights on.

“shit this is nice.” corey nodded, jumping onto the couch. 

“woah woah, take your dirty ass boots off.” elias joked, watching as he threw them off in the direction of the door.

“thank you so much for having us here.” sam smiled, setting his bag down. 

“really, don’t worry about it, i’m glad you’re here and not outside.” elias took their stuff and organized it by the doors. “okay so, there’s two bedrooms, you guys can take those if you want, i don’t mind sleeping on the couch.”

“hell no.” colby laughed, refusing to have him give up his own room in his own house.

“mkay whatever, someone can sleep in my room with me i guess, because trust me the couch is very uncomfortable to sleep on. plus the rooms are much safer. the living room is the scariest, you’ll hear the most shit out here.” he chuckled. “you guys can look around if you want, also feel free to eat anything you find, and use the wifi, passwords on the fridge.” he yawned. “i’m going the fuck to bed.” 

the guys chuckled, taking him up on that offer. 

for over half an hour, they decided to eat some of the snacks in his fridge, and taking crackers from the pantry. “god i was so hungry.” jake moaned into the leftover burger he was eating.

“okay guys, take it easy, we aren’t trying to raid their food.” colby snickered, watching as his friends ate like hungry rats. 

“yeah good point.” sam took a handful of crackers and put the box back. “should we talk about sleeping arrangements?”

“there’s no fucking way i’m sleeping on the couch or anywhere in the living room after what he said.” corey stated, heading into the direction of the guest bedroom. 

“yeahh, me neither.” jake followed after him.

“so.” colby shrugged. “do you care where you’re sleeping tonight?”

“not really, i’ve gotten to know elias pretty well so it doesn’t really matter to me.” the brunette squints at him. 

“what did you guy’s talk about?” he questions. 

“honestly, when he pulled me aside i was shocked. he like saw how overstimulated i was with the whole situation and he completely calmed me down, comforted me and everything.” he threw his arms as he was talking.

“yeah, i’m sorry about that, we were all just frustrated about the key.”

“don’t worry about it.” sam smiled. “are you and elias getting close? you were like all over him, sleeping back at the tent.” he was genuinely curious, considering he hasn’t seen his friend like this in awhile.

colby paused, thinking about everything that’s happened tonight. “honestly... i don’t know, it’s been really weird for me. i’m so confused with what im feeling.” he shook his head, so unsure.

“hm, i’ll go sleep with corey and jake.” they both nodded to that. “goodnight colby!” sam called out, walking in the same direction as the others did.

colby slowly approached elias’ room, pushing open the door gently. both bedside table lights were on, followed by a few candles around the room. he could see that the other boy was still awake. “oh hey.” he put down his book.

“hey elias. thought you were going to bed?”

“i was, heard some loud munchers in my kitchen though.” he giggled, as colby apologized. “no, honestly it’s okay, i was actually surprised how fast you guys decided to come to bed.”

elias yawned once more, stretching his arms out on the bed. “i can either sleep on the floor, make a little bed and shit, or if you’re cool i’ll just stay on the right of the bed.”

“literally don’t worry about it, not the first time i’m sleeping with a dude-” he paused, cutting himself off. “god that sounded bad.” he laughed, blushing with embarrassment. 

“wouldn’t be my first time either.” elias smirked, blowing a fake kiss before wheezing at their dumb jokes. 

colby moved closer, setting his personal backpack down and folding his jacket on the table. he shuffled towards the bed, and sat ontop of it. “i have no idea if i’m going to sleep tonight.” he sighed.

“that’s fair. it’s crazy out here. if you want we can just stay up and talk for awhile?”

“actually.. that would be nice.” colby rubbed the back of his neck. in was silent for a few seconds, him getting comfortable under the covers. “so..”

“how did you like the witches forest? scary enough for you guys?” the other asked, trying to start a good conversation.

“oh definitely one of the scariest places we’ve been to, like with the history of it and everything.”

“what other places have you been to?”

“uhh the stanley hotel, the biltmore, queen mary, cobb estate, griffin park, and we’ve explored so many creepy places, like morgues and abandoned hospitals.” colby explained.

“geez, no wonder you guys are haunted.” he laughs. 

“do you think we are? we joke about it but im genuinely curious if we are.”

elias thinks for a minute. “i don’t think you’re haunted. however, i can sense something with you. with you and corey. whatever is following you, is completely different then what is attached to corey. notice the different in words.” he points out. “i think you have gotten yourself into many negative situations, not just paranormal.” “would you consider yourself lonely, or sad?”

colby exhaled shakily. “yes, sometimes.”

“spirits love following people that are lonely, they find them to be like easy prey, vulnerable.” he emphasizes the last word. elias closes his eyes, really focusing on colby’s presence. “i think the spirit that is with you is also lonely. they are following along with you, because you are feeding into it, giving it attention. and that’s fine, but if you don’t want it with you, you have to make it clear.”

“is it friendly?” he asked.

“yes. it’s friendly. i can’t tell you where you picked this spirit up, but it’s positive, and enjoys your company. it will not hurt you-” he stops, feeling something float by him. “it will not hurt you, it doesn’t want to, that’s not it’s intent. infact, it wants to protect you. noises you might hear, when you go to a haunted area, it very well could be this spirit trying to assert dominance with other ones.”

“holy.” colby tried to calm his breathing. “this is crazy. as long as it’s friendly, then i welcome it.” “so, do you think corey’s ghost is like bad?”

“i wouldn’t say bad, but when i was sitting near him earlier, it isn’t as friendly as yours. it likes the fear that comes with scaring him, i’d even go as far as, it wants to scare him more, it wants to up it. and with that spirit challenging him, i am nervous for his health both physically and mentally.”

“jesus, i have to tell him that in the morning, he’ll probably freak.” he sighed. “it’s so cool how you can like sense this stuff, does it ever get overwhelming?”

“allll the time.” elias chuckles. “sometimes i can just be in a library back in la, and i’ll feel like some version of spirits and like all these weird emotions, and i have to leave.”

“wow i’m sorry that comes with such an amazing gift.”

“it’s okay, i feel at peace with it now. i think my brothers with me, helping me deal with it all. i think he realizes how alone i am, and has decided to follow me.” he laughs at himself. “sorry, sorry, let’s talk about something more fun.”

colby laughed along. “so do you have a girlfriend?” he wondered, making elias pause and blush lightly.

“no, i’m single.” “goes along with the loneliness, if you feel me.” he chuckled. “you?”

“same, it’s hard to date now that sam and i’s channel has blown up. a lot of people have tried to use me for like clout and stuff.” the other frowned at that, apologizing for his past experiences. “no, no it’s okay, i just hope i’ll find someone soon, i do feel you, it gets so lonely.” he fake cries.

elias sips his glass of wine, offering some to colby. “i’m a vodka and rum kinda guy.” 

and soon enough, the boys were drinking, gossiping to each other about absolutely everything. colby was a very talkative drunk it seemed. he was blabbing about his friends, girls, ghosts, anything. “so like, are you gay?” he asked.

elias spat out his wine back into the glass before turning to colby. “uh wow..” he rubbed the back of his neck. “where did that come from?”

“i-i don’t know.” colby admitted, trying to hide himself with the blanket. he really didn’t know why he asked, his weird confused feelings mixed with being drunk just made him ask, he was so curious.

“i’m bisexual.. how’d you know i was into men?” 

“i.. i didn’t.” colby mumbled into the blanket. he felt himself shaking, so nervous and anxious. he took a deep breath and exhaled aggressively before jolting up and looking right at elias. “i didn’t know you liked men but i think i do.” he rushed it out. 

“i’ve never felt anything for a guy before so i’m pretty freaked out right now and-d confused but i think i like you.” he rubs his eyes, embarrassed and uh pretty drunk.

“wait really?” he paused for a moment. ‘holy shit’ he thought. he never would have expected this, he just thought colby loved being physical with his friends from all the touches earlier in the night.

seeing that his confusing feelings were being reciprocated, it made elias the happiest he’s been in awhile. “dude, i feel the same way.”

colby stopped, completely still. both boys were completely shocked at each others confessions. 

“like i feel like i’ve known you for awhile.” elias commented.

“same.” he tried to think of what to say next, where to go from here. 

“hey.” the other touched his arm. “don’t get too nervous about this whole situation, we have plenty of time to get to know eachother, plenty of time for you to figure out everything you’re going through.” “don’t feel pressured into anything.”

colby thought for a few minutes. “thank you, i appreciate it.” “it’s.. it’s so weird feeling like this. ever since i was younger i’ve been so convinced that i’m straight, and now i’m getting all these feelings for you and it’s honestly making me scared. what if i do like you? does that mean i have to come out? tell my friends, family and viewers? what if i don’t and this is just a mistake?”

“you can.. or we can figure it out one step at a time.” elias smiled. “and by the way, never feel pressured to come out, it’s a personal and heavy thing to do.”

he shivered, tears threatening to spill. it was such a vulnerable moment for him. elias reached out to the boy, offering a hug. 

they shared a tight hug, elias rubbing his back out of comfort. 

their moment was interrupted by an incredibly loud bang, and three loud screams from the guys in the other room. “colby!” one of them shouted.

they pulled apart from their hug, just as the three barged into their room. “did you fucking hear that, bro?!” sam questioned, before looking at the people in front of him. he acknowledged how close they were, the slight tears in colby’s eyes,how intimate the room lighting was, the wine, the white rum.. 

oh fuck, they just interrupted a moment. 

the other two didn’t notice, too scared of the noises they’ve been hearing all night. “that was the loudest one yet!” jake announced. 

“i’m not going back in there.” corey whined.

“we’ve been hearing shit over there, what about you?” sam asked, before mouthing a sorry to the two sitting in bed. elias smiled at the gesture, before trying to wipe off his smirk.

“nope.” colby shook his head, his eyes less red then a few minutes ago.

“it’s safer in here.” corey stated, setting down the pillow he brought from the other room, and curling into a ball onto the floor, making elias laugh.

“are we having a sleepover?” he asked.

“oh, fucking totally.” jake snickered, running back to the other room and grabbing every blanket and pillow he could.

sam made a gesture with his finger, calling over colby. he noticed and walked to the bathroom with him. 

“uh, hey, sorry about that, we didn’t mean to interrupt you guys.”

“interrupt? you uh didn’t interrupt anything we were just talking.”

sam made a face, before nodding. it was his business, so when he wanted to tell him, he would, so he left it alone. “alright.. you ready for this sleepover?” he smiled.

“fuckkk yeahh.”

it had been over an hour, everyone was dead asleep, corey snoring. elias was the only one awake, he was too in thought to sleep. he watched over colby, who was laying right infront of him on the floor with the rest of the guys. they were each laying on both bed mattresses, covered in blankets, basically in a line.

he had been debating to put an arm around colby, but.. if they woke up like that he could expose colby to the rest of his friends, or atleast cause him to get teased. 

after a bit, he decided to shuffle his left arm under colby, so it was less noticeable. he held the boy, smiling, before finally falling asleep.

he didn’t know this, but colby was awake the entire time, smiling, wondering what the frick he was gonna do about this goofy medium he found himself possibly falling in love with...

[onlycosmere]

I wasn’t going to say anything about it because, frankly, I regularly read much better criticism of Brandon Sanderson on tumblr.

However, Brandon responded to that Wired article, so I’ll share his response with you all.

Brandon Sanderson:

All,

I appreciate the kind words and support.

Not sure how, or if, I should respond to the Wired article. I get that Jason, in writing it, felt incredibly conflicted about the fact that he finds me lame and boring. I’m baffled how he seemed to find every single person on his trip--my friends, my family, my fans--to be worthy of derision.

But he also feels sincere in his attempt to try to understand. While he legitimately seems to dislike me and my writing, I don't think that's why he came to see me. He wasn't looking for a hit piece--he was looking to explore the world through his writing. In that, he and I are the same, and I respect him for it, even if much of his tone seems quite dismissive of many people and ideas I care deeply about.

The strangest part for me is how Jason says he had trouble finding the real me. He says he wants something true or genuine. But he had the genuine me all that time. He really did. What I said, apparently, wasn't anything he found useful for writing an article. That doesn't make it not genuine or true.

I am not offended that the true me bores him. Honestly, I'm a guy who enjoys his job, loves his family, and is a little obsessive about his stories. There's no hidden trauma. No skeletons in my closet. Just a guy trying to understand the world through story. That IS kind of boring, from an outsider's perspective. I can see how it is difficult to write an article about me for that reason.

But at the same time, I’m worried about the way he treats our entire community. I understand that he didn’t just talk about me, but about you. As has been happening to fantasy fans for years, the general attitude of anyone writing about us is that we should be ashamed for enjoying what we enjoy. In that, the tone feels like it was written during the 80s. “Look at these silly nerds, liking things! How dare they like things! Don’t they know the thing they like is dumb?”

As a community, let’s take a deep breath. It’s all right. I appreciate you standing up for me, but please leave Jason alone. This might feel like an attack on us, on you, but it’s not. Jason wrote what he felt he needed--and as a writer, he is my colleague. Please show him respect. He should not be attacked for sharing his feelings. If we attack people for doing so, we make the world a worse place, because fewer people will be willing to be their authentic selves.

That said, let me say one thing. You, my friends, are not boring or lame. In Going Postal, one of my favorite novels, Sir Terry Pratchett has a character fascinated by collecting pins. Not pins like you might think--they aren't like Disney pins, or character pins. They are pins like tacks used to pin things to walls. Outsiders find it difficult to understand why he loves them so much. But he does.

In the book, pins are a stand-in for collecting stamps, but also a commentary on the way we as human beings are constantly finding wonder in the world around us. That is part of what makes us special. The man who collects those pins--Stanley Howler--IS special. In part BECAUSE of his passion. And the more you get to know him, or anyone, the more interesting you find them. This is a truism in life. People are interesting, every one of them--and being a writer is about finding out why.

In that way, the ability to make Stanley interesting is part of what makes Pratchett a genius, in my opinion. That's WRITING. Not merely using words. It’s what I aspire to be able to do. People are wonderful, fascinating, brilliant balls of walking contradiction, passion, and beauty. I find it an exciting challenge to make certain that the perspective of the washwoman or the monk sitting and reading a book is as interesting in a story as that of the king or the tech-mogul.

And I find value in you. Your passion for my work is a big part of why I write. You make my life special. Thank you.

(NOTE: I do want to make it clear, again that I bear Jason no ill will. I like him. Please leave him alone. He seems to be a sincere man who tried very hard to find a story, discovered that there wasn't one that interested him, then floundered in trying to figure out what he could say to make deadline. I respect him for trying his best to write what he obviously found a difficult article.

He’s a person, remember, just like each of us.)

[zorosleftshoe]

Hey, can you do one where reader is easily scared and after long persuading finally agrees to go exploring with Sam & Colby and during exploring Sam scares her for fun/content and she gets super scared and starts crying/gets a panic atack and Colby gets very mad at Sam and comforts her and calms her down and it ends good/fluffy?

I kinda let this one get away from me. But I like how it turned out. I hope it’s okay and not too..much?

Fear - (c.b)

Pairing: Colby Brock x fem!reader

Warnings: blood, swearing, murder?

If you asked anyone, and I mean anyone, they would tell you my most evident personality trait was that I was startled easily. I was a red panda in human form. Then again, that’s what happens when at the age of seven a strange man finds his way into your home and creates one of the worst memories you’ll ever have. No, not a memory. A stain. I don’t like to think of it as a memory. Memories are meant to be good and that night was the beginning of a very long road to recovery.

I wouldn’t say it was an experience that set in stone who I was as a person but after that night I was always weary of the shadows. Never knowing what, or who, lurked in them.

I met Colby when I turned seventeen. He was just graduating high school and his career was taking off with vine. Although people said we were kindred souls and seemed attached at the hip, I couldn’t help but notice how he was this ray of light and I stuck to the shadows. Keep your enemies close, right? Even if they are dark corners or pitch black alleys that leave a pit in your stomach.

When Colby moved out to California with Sam, I followed. My mom had fallen into a dark spiral after that night and I had nothing anchoring me to Kansas with Colby leaving. He was my lifeline and I wasn’t ready to let go yet. So I stuck beside him through the different styles and creations he went through with his channel while the boys were discovering who they were. Eventually love found it’s way in. The late night talks were no longer just hushed words but sweet confessions and the lingering stares meant much more.

Finally, after months and months of different videos, Colby and Sam opted into testing out the investigation of the supernatural. And it fit. Suddenly the mood was lighter and the boys were content with what they were creating and publishing every video.

When Sam would ask Katrina to accompany them to the next haunted location, I could feel Colby’s eyes burning into the back of my head. I would never discourage him from what he loved to do but he knew how I felt about the paranormal and I knew how he felt about me tagging along. He wanted me to be a part of that portion of his life just as much as Kat was in Sam’s. Needless to say with every new location came a new argument. It was always the same. Colby begging me to just give a chance and then my immediate refusal.

He knew I was afraid of the dark. More so whatever was in it.

It didn’t stop there. He continued to ask every so often in different ways. Eventually it wasn’t even questioning. He would say ‘the Stanley has a nice little shop that sells crystals. I know you like those.’ in an attempt to peak my interest and finally after months of attempts, I gave in. My heart fluttered when I saw how big his smile was that day. How he pulled me into the tightest hug he could with an unspoken ‘I love you’.

Standing in front of Waverly Hills Sanatorium my heart was beating rapidly in my chest and my mind full of regret. I clung tightly to the jacket that was wrapped around my middle as Colby dug through the trunk with Sam. A soft tap on my shoulder tore me out of my thoughts and I reluctantly looked away from the intimidating building in front of me.

“I’ve been on tons of these. Nothing really bad has ever really happened.” Katrina said in attempts to reassure me. She squeezed my shoulder lovingly before turning around and walking back to the boys who were still looking in the trunk. I sighed heavily through my nose and made my way to Colby who was checking a few items to make sure the lights worked correctly.

“You promise this will be okay?” He looked up at my words and sat the instruments down before placing his hands gently on my upper arms. “You just know how I feel about these places and I’m already nervous about going in there and-“ he cut me off with a short kiss.

“I promise everything will be okay. You know I would never let anything hurt you.” Sucking my lip between my teeth I nibbled gently on the skin. He moved his hand to my chin and rubbed gently under my my newly attacked lip. “Don’t hurt your lip, baby.” With a heavy sigh, I release my lip and follow his actions with my eyes as he leans back down to grab the rest of the tools. As I followed closely behind the others into the old and worn down building that night so many years ago crept into my head.

Dad laughed loudly with his head thrown back as he held my mother close. The Christmas tree was illuminating the room with shades of pinks, blues, oranges, and reds as ‘A Christmas Story’ played quietly on the TV. Natalia was asleep on the couch beside me with her head resting in my lap and her soft snores filling the quiet space around us.

As the movie came to a close I saw dad kiss mom on the lips before standing up and walking in my direction. He lifted Natalia off the couch and ushered me off to bed. The night quickly grew silent as I laid there in bed too excited for Santa to be coming. Any minute now he would be here. As if he could hear my thoughts, I heard a soft thud coming from downstairs. My heart rate accelerated at the thought of catching Santa dropping off our presents so I shut my eyes and pretended to sleep. That was until a blood curdling scream rang out through the house.

Even at seven years old your mind knows when something is wrong. But your decision making skills still have a few years before you can justify the decisions you make. I hop out of the bed and sneak to my bedroom door. The house is quiet now. All I can hear now is my heavy breathing as I place my ear against the door. For a few moments it’s quiet. Until I hear rapid footsteps increasing in my direction. My eyes widen and I quickly look around the room for somewhere, anywhere to hide. Bed? No. Too easy. Curtains? Don’t be stupid. Closet? Yes! There’s a hidden hutch in the back that if you don’t know it’s there you’ll miss it. As quietly as I can I race to the closet and to the back under the clothes where the board is. I remove it quickly and just I place it back I hear my bedroom door open.

Seconds feel like hours as I force myself to steady my breathing. By now I’m shaking. I can hear whoever it is rummaging through my bedroom trying to find something. Trying to find me. After awhile it goes quiet but I don’t dare move, I know better. So I stay there until I see the sun peeking through the bottom of the board and I slowly crawl out. The birds are chirping outside but the house is deathly still. With every step I take towards my parents room my hands shake even more. I turn the knob and when I open the door my stomach drops.

I don’t know how long I’ve stood there before I’m racing to the bathroom and leaning over the toilet emptying the contents of my stomach. Silent tears roll down my cheeks as try to erase the picture of my father from my mind. That’s when I noticed the red splotches on the bathtub. My stomach twists at the sight and I slowly rise to my feet before looking over the edge of the tub. When my eyes land on Natalia I feel like headed. The stench in the air is suddenly all I can notice. I quickly retreat from the bathroom and head towards the stairs. When I near the top of them the door and opens and my heart drops. He’s back. He’s come back to finish the job. But that doesn’t happen. Standing in front of me is my mother who places her keys in the bowl beside the door that sits on a table. Her smile is usually infectious but now I can’t bear to see it. She shakes her coat off her shoulders and places it on the hook before looking in my direction. When her eyes land on me she gasps.

“What happened?”

I shake the thought from my head as we trudge deeper into the building. Once we’re at the heart of the location Colby and Sam begin to set up a few things. Katrina is in her own world eyeing all the rooms with wonder. I stand a few feet away with my arms close to my body. I keep my eyes trained on Colby like I’m afraid to look around. To some extent, I am. Colby might not know it and I wouldn’t dare tell him but I couldn’t help but notice the dark figure lurking in one of the abandoned rooms as we walked passed.

That’s the thing about trauma. As you recover they teach you ways to cope. Ways to decipher what’s real and what’s not. Even years after my father and sister’s murders there are times where I can’t tell the two apart. Every hooded man on the street is the monster that slain them Christmas Eve while we slept in our beds and my mother was committing another crime. It was normal for my mind to play tricks on me and although Colby wasn’t around when it happened, he quickly adapted to my needs.

“You still with us, buttercup?” Colby’s voice dripped of honey as he spoke. He was always so sweet to me, even when he didn’t need to be.

“Yeah. What are we doing?” Colby glanced over at Sam with a look of uncertainty before stepping towards me and gently taking my elbow in his hand.

“Sam wants us to split up.” I shrugged and tugged my bottom lip between my teeth again.

“Okay. So us then Sam and Kat?” He shook his head. “Then who?” He sighed heavily and used his free hand to brush my hair out of my face and behind my ear.

“We’re gonna go off on our own.” My eyes widen at his words and I immediately shaky my head. “Just listen-“

“No, Colby. You already know I’m scared out of my mind being here. If I go off on my own I’ll probably have a heart attack and then you’ll be reaching out to me with your ouija boards and shit.” I knew I was being dramatic. If there really was an afterlife, or if ghost were real, how could my dad have not reached out?

“It’ll only be for half an hour. Tops.” My bottom lip is raw now from the constant chewing and I sigh heavily. If I don’t do this, I’ll ruin their video.

“Fine. Half an hour.” We all go our separate ways with a different camera. I turn mine on and begin recording. “I would just like to reiterate that I think this is a dumb idea. You never split up in horror movies. Well, they do. Which is the problem.” I hear a thud from a room in front of me and hold my breath. “Did you hear that?” My heart is already hammering in my chest as I continue forward. “I’m not brave enough for this which is why I’m talking to you.” I say looking at the camera. “At least if I die, you’ll have my last moments captured on camera. Hopefully my last words are something cool.” Another thud. “Is someone there?” I ask to the openness around me. My eyes are starting to brim with tears and I quickly blink them away before looking down at the camera. “I’m not about to cry in front of you guys.” I continue down the hallway and just as I’m about to round the corner I hear a soft whisper behind me. “Guys.” I say softly to the camera. By now I’m shitting myself. I’m shaking life a leaf.

“Ring a round the Rosie, A pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall,” there’s a soft pause between the creepy sing song music before I feel a breath on my neck. “Down!” I let out a scream and the camera falls from my hands. The tears begin to fall as I start to crawl backwards covering my eyes with arms.

“No!” I cry out as I feel my back hit the wall. “Leave me alone!” My breaths come short and fast as I wave my arms in attempt to keep myself safe. “No!” My cheeks are stained now and I don’t dare look up. My head feels like at the lack of oxygen and I feel my eyelids growing heavy.

“What the hell?” I don’t register the voice immediately due to the haze I am but when I feel hands on me I’m pulled out of it as I let out another scream. “What did you do?” The voice is full of anger.

“It was just a joke, Colby. We were just trying to get some good content for the video. We didn’t know she would react like this.” Another voice piped up. The hands that are on my body are gentle.

“Can I touch you?” I don’t know if they’re questioning me but I nod. Whoever this is isn’t a threat and I need help calming down before I pass out. “I’m gonna put your hand on my chest, okay? I need you to match my breathing. Can you do that for me?” My eyes are closed but I nod in response. I feel the heavy rise and fall of their chest and I attempt to mimic it. “Good. Just focus on my breathing.” As I focus on the rising and falling my mind drifts to the blueness of Colby’s eyes. How they remind me of the ocean. How deep and vast it is and suddenly I’m grounded. I open my eyes and there are those blue eyes. “I’m right here.” I let out a sob and throw my arms around his shoulders. He’s quiet but I can feel him softly rubbing circles into my back. When I open my eyes I examine the room, from Sam and Kat who are stood with faces full of guilt, to the broken camera on the ground next to us.

“Oh, Colby!” My lip trembles again at the realization I broke his camera and he shakes his head before ‘sh’ing me.

“It’s okay. I’m not mad at you.” He says putting emphasis on the you. Sam shifts his weight and I glance up at them with teary eyes.

“Why?” Katrina won’t even look me in the eyes and Sam is focused on his shoes.

“We wanted good content for the video and Kat has already been in so many. Since it was your first video it was kinda just-“

“A hazing thing?” I ask and Sam shrugs. I know he feels bad because I’ve been friend with him just as long as I’ve been friends with Colby. The only difference? I left Sam in the dark about what happened to my family.

“You knew how hard I fought to get her to be in a video and you do this? She’s never gonna be in one again. You realize that right?” Colby is fuming. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Sam is still confused. He doesn’t understand why a simple prank would cause a full on meltdown and although it was in poor taste, it’s not entirely his fault. “Seriously, man! Use your brain.”

“I’m sorry, Colby. We were just trying to have some fun.” Sam argues.

“Fun? You’ve been her friend as long as I have. You know she scares easily and you also know she has panic attacks. Hell, you’ve been there for a few. What would make you think this was a good idea?” Sam shrugs again.

“We were banking on her getting scared, Colby. We didn’t know she would react that way.” He pauses and looks over at me. “I’m sorry. If we knew, you know we wouldn’t have done this.” He looks back to Colby. “You’re her boyfriend. You know more than we do. You know more than I do even being her best friend. Let’s just finish this and go to the hotel.” Colby scoffs before rising to his feet and helping me up.

“No. You can finish this and I’ll take her to the hotel so she can relax. After that I’m not letting her stay another minute here.” Colby takes my hand and pushes passed Sam who gives me an awkward smile. “I can’t believe him!” Colby says once we’re safely in the car.

“He didn’t know.” He huffs.

“He doesn’t need to know. That’s the problem. He knows how much I wanted you to come and he pulls a silly prank that sends you into a full on panic attack.” I can tell he’s still angry by the way he clutches onto the wheel. His knuckles are a ghostly white and his jaw is clenched so tight I’m worried for his teeth.

“It’s not his fault he doesn’t know my family was murdered. Aside from the people that saw it in the paper seventeen years ago, I don’t think a lot of people do.” It’s silent for a few moments before I speak again. “I’m sorry.” Colby’s grip loosens and he looks over at me quickly.

“Why are you sorry?”

“You have to deal with all this. You shouldn’t have to and I’m just sorry.” Colby pulls off the main road and puts the car in park before turning his body towards me and taking my hand.

“You are not a burden to me. I love you and everything that comes with you.” I go to speak but he quickly cuts me off. “What ever that may be. No matter what that may be.” He presses a gentle hand against the side of my neck and leans closer. “You are the sun that lights up my world and the moon that moves my oceans. There will never be another you. Trauma and all.” A tear escapes my eye and rolls down my cheek and he kisses it away before pressing his lips against mine. “I love you.” He rests his forehead against mine for a moment before leaning back and putting the car in drive.

“I love you, Colbs. I never thought fairytales were real.” He looks over at me with a dazed smile. “They are. You just have to know where to look.”

[theremustbeabear]

i'm curious how and why the terror fictives here got their non-source-related names, they're all great and they all seem to make sense somehow

AHA! [cracks knuckles] well, lucky for you, we absolutely adore talking about our system, so here is, from what i can remember, the true stories of every single one (so far, we have a couple of new ones from today that have yet to change theirs):

remus halcyon (fitzjames) -- the 'remus' in our url (theremustbeabear) jumped out at him, and he was also inspired by remus from sanders sides. halcyon was meant as a sort of good luck charm going forward, plus, he just thought it sounded neat.

hugo mcculloch (crozier) -- i'm fairly sure he stole hugo from an actor, but he just sort of heard it and liked the sound of it. same with his last name. not much thought here.

roland conagher (goodsir, also the one writing this post, hullo) -- i asked friends for name suggestions that were relatively unassuming and similar to my original one, and liked the suggestion of roger, but we already have a headmate named roger, so i rolled it around a bit until i settled on roland instead. conagher is shamelessly stolen from the engineer (tf2).

javert atilax (jopson) -- often when folks are more recognized by their last name, they'll take inspiration from their last name for their new first name, or vice versa (such as our stanley tsp's last name being stanford). jav wanted the name javier, which simply came to him, but it turned out it was on his mind because somebody already has that one. remus joked about him stealing javert from les mis, and he essentially went "alright, bet". atilax is a genus of mongoose, because jopson gets referred to as a mongoose on several occasions, and he thought it would be a funny subtle reference.

brigadier shaw (tozer) -- he thought a military rank would be fitting, and the idea of having the nickname "brig" was funny and ironic to him, considering. well, you know what a brig is. shaw is after liam shaw from star trek.

leiland douglas (irving) -- leiland is a character we like from dimension 20, and he somewhat related to him. douglas is simply because we're scottish and so often fall back on scottish names when we don't have other inspiration. also, real irving was scottish.

terrence hudson (hodgson) -- thought it would be funny to name himself 'terry', as in, short for 'terror', but ended up really liking the name terry and extending it to terrence. he also thought it would be funny to shift his last name just a little bit to the left and steal from a different explorer who died badly. one thing we can all say about terry is that he certainly knows how to commit to a bit (yes, this is about the mpreg conversation on discord, you know who you are)

myler lepetit (little) -- stole his first name from a warrior cats character that we really like and he finds relatable. stole the last name from julia from drawfee, because he thought it would be funny, and terry was encouraging him. i agree, i think it's very silly.

and that's all currently, because collins, mcdonald, and stanley have yet to change theirs, and that is our present total of introjects. thank you for the ask, hope this doesn't disappoint!

[cootcutebatkat]

No one had any faith that Stan would be okay when he graduates high school. But I think Ford is the exception.

He doesn't think the Stan O'War will be enough, at least with a high school degree. He's not ready to explore the world and change it for the better and prove himself as a scientist to fit in with like-minded weirdos. Unless he has a Master's degree or a PhD. Maybe even two or three PhDs!

Stan may not go to college or at least West Coast Tech. But he's always been the sociable adventurer type anyways. I've been holding him back on his relationships anyways. We've been holding back each other all this time, haven't we? We need to part ways now, at least for a moment, so we can grow up.

I'm ready to grow up. Isn't Stan? Yeah, I'm sure he is. He wants to be free as much as I do.

My project is broken.

Why?

Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

Why is it broken? Why are they rejecting me? Why are they going away? Why can't I go with them? Why can't I get out of here? Why can't I get out of here?

Stanley.

Why? Why was he here? What did he do? Why did he do this? Why does he not want me to leave? Why should he treat me like this?

Why is he pretending that nothing's wrong? Does he really not know? Or is he really attempting to look innocent? Is he even ashamed of what he's done? Does it matter that little to him?

Accident. Horsing around.

Goofing off, huh? It's just a joke to you, huh? My future, my ticket out of here, my chance to be worthy, my chance to really make something of myself, all of that is a fucking joke, isn't it?

Why is he always smothering me? Why is he always tailing me? Why can't he just grow up already? Why does he need me to stay here? Why does he need the Stan O'War? Why right now? I'm not ready. I'm not ready. I can't do that. I need this. I need the college. I need my future. Does he not get that? Is he stupid? Is he cruel?

He did sabotage it. It was really on purpose and he's not even sorry about it. Not one fucking bit.

He was never really my friend. He probably wanted me to fail. He's not stupid enough to. To do all that. I don't get it. He was supposed to be my friend. He wasn't. When did he stop being my friend?

He wasn't worth it. I'm so stupid. I'm not. I'm smart. Not smart enough. I know better. I just didn't want to hear it. Because it hurt too much. But I knew all along that he wasn't worth it. That he really is cruel and dumb like the rest of them. He did bully other kids after all. He makes people smile sometimes. He knows how to talk to girls. He has a reputation. I'm not like him at all. He hates me. He always has and I just didn't want to hear it. I just wanted to believe he was good. That's all it was. I'm so stupid.

I guess everyone is like this huh, even Stanley.

I'm not playing this game anymore, Stan. Go to hell.

Even Dad agrees. Even Dad knows. I was right. I was fucking right. I fucking knew it. I knew Stan was just using me. I knew Stan hated me. I knew it. He's a sick fucking bastard. I was going to be free. I was going to succeed. I was going to make something of myself. I won't be the freak anymore.

There is so much noise right now. So much noise. So much noise. Everyone is awake. Everyone is mad. Everyone is scared. I can't do this. I'm so fucking scared. Stan, I'm so scared. Stan is bad. Stan is fucking terrible. I'm stuck here. I'm stuck in this shit hole. This is my life now. Why can't I get out of here? Why can't get I the fuck out of here? I can't live in this place anymore. I can't. I fucking can't. I hate it here. Stan's not my friend. Stan trapped me here. Trapped me here with him. What else is he going to do to me? Is he gonna keep pretending? Is he gonna stop pretending? What is he gonna do if he stops?

Stan's gone. I'm safe.

Dad cares about me. Dad cares about my future. Dad is right about everything. I should trust Dad on certain things. I know not to trust him when I cry or be sad or be loud or

Stan will be fine. I know he will. He just wanted to stay here out of some sick sadistic reason. Or lazy reason. Like Dad said. He's right about everything. Stan will probably be a conman. A charlatan. Hah. That's what you get for betraying people. For betraying your friend. What have I even done to deserve this? Why should I put up with this?

I'm not. Like Dad said. Dad has always made it clear that real men fight back. And Stan always has fought back. And then he became a bully. But I'll be better than that. I know better than that. From now on, I'm never going through this again.

[ricflairdrip20]

Karen Filippelli x Reader

————————————————————————

The office workers are celebrating the luau at the warehouse upon Michael’s return from Jamaica. It was his idea to have a luau today, although Angela, who is the head of the party planning committee, wasn’t happy about it because she didn’t have time to get some of the things Michael wanted.

You sat back quietly and observed your surroundings: Michael giving an older guy, Stanley, you believe, an alleged bonus that the salesman demanded, Dwight and Andy having a competition, Karen and the receptionist talking to each about God knows what. You were never really the social type, only when someone approaches you and strikes up a conversation. But lately, the majority of time a particular person initiating a conversation with you has been Karen. At first, it was a casual short talk, but recently you both became closer. You and Karen ate lunch together every day, whether it’s at your or her car, or at a restaurant nearby. You talked to each other every single day about anything and everything.

As time went on, your infatuation grew to a crush. You and Karen had been working together at the Stamford branch in Connecticut. You were happy when you and Karen were transferred to Scranton; you get to continue seeing her, and you can explore the new state. Even better if you and Karen do so together.

One problem.

She is dating the somewhat still new guy Jim Halpert.

You have to admit, you can understand why she chose him, because he is nice and very handsome, although terrible at Call of Duty. But even so, you were less than thrilled that she is with someone else, and possibly for the rest of her life. When you moved to Scranton, you noticed a chemistry between Jim and the receptionist, which made Karen a little suspicious. Even though you don’t really approve of Karen and Jim’s relationship, you were still concerned because she does deserve a best relationship with undivided attention. Hopefully one with the same gender. You, if we’re being really specific.

You were deep in thought and didn’t realize that Karen sat next to you on the couch until she spoke up.

“Hey, you okay?” You were snapped out of your thoughts by a familiar voice that you enjoyed hearing. You smiled as you looked up and saw that it was Karen.

“Yeah, I’m fine, how about yourself?”

“I’m alright. Well, actually, not really. Um, can we talk privately?” You nodded.

You walked together to a staircase, far away from where anyone might walk to, as they were occupied with the party and doing inventory for the warehouse. You sat together on the little bench and Karen took a deep breath.

“I don’t know if I really love Jim enough to be in the relationship much longer.” Your eyes widened as she spoke. You weren’t expecting to hear her doubting the relationship with your fellow coworker. You were beginning to accept the fact that she’ll end up with him.

“Seriously? He’s not mean to you, is he?”

Karen shook her head furiously. “No no no no, he’s not at all. On the contrary, actually, he’s a gentleman. But I don’t think he’s right for me. And plus, maybe I’m being paranoid, but I think he’s a little too close with that receptionist girl.”

You can’t disagree. They appear to have a lot of chemistry together. Unless you’re wrong and it could be a sibling type relationship. But a closeness at this caliber? There’s no denying it. But you can’t really hate the girl. She seems nice enough, but you don’t know her well enough, only through hi’s and good morning’s.

“Yeah, I can see that,” you nodded. Karen looked at you, then at a spot on the wall for a few seconds before looking back at you.

“Hey, um, (Y/N), would you, um… Would you… like to go out with me this weekend?” You swore you can see a hint of blush on her cheeks.

Without thinking, you nodded, a smile spreading on your face.

“I’d love to.”

[deco-devolution]

Oh my god I’m so lazy. I’m going to tell everybody what I was thinking instead of writing it.

I was going to write a sad minific about Stanley being tormented by Eleanor. I know we all clown on him but the idea of being constantly stalked by a malicious superhuman loves to watch you squirm while you’re too much a coward to do anything sounds awful.

She pops in from time to time. Breaks his arm, burns down the neighbors house, then just laughs and slinks away. And he can’t do anything because he genuinely fucking hates himself by this point so he just tries to kill time between her appearances and drinking himself to sleep.

She's not a winner here, either. She's just as unhappy. Her mother is dead. Her father is dead. Her aunt is dead. Her sisters are dead. She was dead but by some cosmic cruelty she is back and she is angry, with only a sad little man as her only peer.

I also wanted to explore why he’s such a prick! I was thinking something like an unstable home where he leaned to care for himself without getting too close to anyone and he resents it a bit. And he sort of just decides yeah this works but eventually he notices the consistency of his parents and his learned behavior and is just disappointed. The full idea was that he came from an absent mother and abusive father; The mother was incredibly withdrawn from the abuse and just sort of let Stanley raise himself and the dad didn’t really care for having a child at all. I’m talking making-your-own -dinner-at-eight-years-old sort of neglect.

And he sort of just decides yeah, this works but eventually he notices the similarities of his parents and his own learned behavior and is just disappointed.

Not enough to change, though.

Which he also hates.

Their dynamic not something satisfying. It's a Pyrrhic victory. It’s a relationship built on blood and ashes from all sides.

An unfinished intro is below the cut.

There’s something wrong with her eyes, now —they used to reflect light, used to express emotion— but now they’re dull, the warmth eaten away by a darkness as enigmatic and implacable as the rest of her. They’ve been that way for a while.

He tries not to look.

[itookyoudown]

For the character ask game will you do the whole Lexington team?

i accept this challenge 😈

let's do this speedrun style.

LEXINGTON LAWMEN LET'S GO

Art

How I feel about this character: he's ... all right! i think he's perfect for his role in the show and he's got some nice little details (the hearing aids, his relationship with leslie & family, etc) and he has some great lines. S2's Blaze of Glory is FASCINATING for him and is my favorite Art episode ... that ending with Frank!! dksjfks both sad and funny and wow what an entirely human true neutral way to approach the outlaw VS lawman cat and mouse dynamic 10/10 no notes. we also get some interesting glimpses at his inner darkness + capacity for violence in him that's ... hm now that's very interesting (that time he smacked Boyd with the bible, the interrogation with the phonebook, him decking Raylan, etc) but i think overall he falls too much in line with the "Police Chief" character archetype. since Justified is a western masquerading as a police show, Art should have felt more like a sheriff but he didn't. Raylan was the sheriff of the show. though as Justified always does with their characters they gave Art a lot more personality and layers than LEO shows usually give their big boss characters. i also LOVE that Art's hope and trust in Raylan is FOREVER dashed and is never repaired during the show, such a great twist on what usually happens with the chief and their cowboy subordinate.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: ...well...i wouldn't call it "romantic" but i think we deserve at least one fucked up gross Art/Tim dead dove daddy issues smut fic, as a treat (for me) 🤡

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Art & Raylan. his odd almost-surrogate father/son dynamic where he literally disowns Raylan during the show is goddamn great and i never tire of it on rewatches of the show. i really wish we'd see it explored more in fic.

My unpopular opinion about this character: i don't think there's enough opinions on Art for anything said about his character to be unpopular, but ... i think Art had one gay experience when he was younger like @praycambrian's Art and stanley tucci fic is just canon to me.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: more Art & Tim interaction!! remember when Tim gets mouthy and bratty and Art verbally lays into him with a DON'T BE A SMART ASS??!! yeah i needed to have more of Tim toe-ing the chain of command and Art putting him back behind the line, please.

Rachel

How I feel about this character: she's cool! i like Rachel, but i don't love Rachel. she's just too prim and professional and filling the role of The Lawful Good Lawman to spark any fandom brainworms in me. she has my respect though. i still adored her place within the show, however. badass lady black marshal that's good at her fucking job and doesn't backdown in the face of assholes!! get it. the ways she was able to clap back on racist bullshit without the writers falling down a preachy rabbit hole for her was also chef's kiss.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Rachel/OMC and Rachel/Raylan as a treat (for her). sorry lesbian or bi Rachel truthers, that's a straight woman. in my head, after Rachel becomes the Seattle marshal she begins seeing a black man who works some sort of legal practice job with a divorce under his belt as well. they eventually married and live as Dog Parents Ever After 😌

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Rachel & Nick. loved her relationship with her nephew, she's done right by him and stepped up for her family i think Nick is going to be okay, i really think he's going to end up happy and Rachel structure & support is a big part of that.

My unpopular opinion about this character: the best Rachel fic(s) in existence is connect the dots by larkingstock. i don't care that it's Rachel/Tim fic btw once upon a time i read all the Tim fics that existed on the internet and that's how i discovered this brilliant Rachel-centric fic. never read a fic that shines such a spotlight on her sexuality, her emotions, and her wishes before while givng her a real narrative voice. also, the writing quality and style is romance novel level. 10/10 no notes.

not a fan of the Rachel & Tim bestie agenda. respectfully, they are work colleagues at best but i prefer Rachel filling a former mentor & then a boss role to Tim. he calls her ma'am with a little too much respect for them to be true pals.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: what the fuck happened with her divorce!! hello?? we only had a QUICK PEEK into Rachel's tragic & chaotic family life (dad dead from cancer, troubled sister dead, co-raising her nephew with her mother??!!) and i desperately wish we'd gotten a follow-up on what was going on there. our gal had hidden depths and i wanted to see more. they dropped the ball with the lawmen side of the plots in season 5/6 so we were also denied a deeper look at Rachel being the acting chief RIP :(

Tim

How I feel about this character: i'm not normal about this dude :) he's my blorbo my fan favorite my ascended supported character my baby boy my lil man timmy guts slutterson my gay ranger sniper deputy marshal lawman heart of my heart apple of my eye!! i just think he's neat. everything we see about him in canon spurs a hundred and zillion headcanons in my head, can never stop thinking about him. he's a character i project hard on and i love working out my various personal issues by tormenting him with them. ty for your service 'lil mister.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: everything he's my little black dress of the fandom. givenson, mostly. but also boyd/raylan/tim, boyd/tim, colt/tim, boyd/colt/tim, quarles/tim. i even ship him in things that has no tag yet. where is the wynn duffy/tim fic?! i need dan/raylan/tim in miami fic!!

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Tim & Mark. i liked the canon portrayal for them and don't find it romantic or sexual at all. i really do think they were just war buddy pals.

My unpopular opinion about this character: he would not have been out as a gay man circa 2010. i sometimes ... feel ... his service history & career as a LEO isn't factored into fic characterizations and how that's gonna fuck up his ability to accept himself as a gay man and how that might even give him a hostile relationship with the LGBT community at large. i will never i cannot personally vibe with smoothing down the sharp points of Tim's characterization and history to make him more palatable to a younger audience. i don't care for queernorm-ing and the soft boy aesthetics.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: that they spent SO MUCH time setting up his powder-keg arc and then did a whole bunch of nothing with it. we should have seen him BLOW sky high (and should have seen him blowing other men who said that).

Raylan

How I feel about this character: i'm normal about him (lying through my teeth). i love raylan, okay?? he makes me bonkers in a variety of different ways. he's my comfort character!! thinking about him comforts me.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: givenson, mainly. i also ship him with boyd in a very very VERY selective way AKA it has to be toxic and weird and dom4dom. also love putting him with both Boyd and Tim at once ala Crowgivenson. i also wrote the only Dan/Raylan fic but also took it down a while back, still ship them hardcore though only way to explain why Dan is so fucking fond of Raylan.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Raylan & Loretta. no she is NOT his daughter and those are not a parent/child dynamic. Raylan sees HIMSELF in Loretta, he is being the protective supportive adult to her that HE needed as a child. helping her heals his inner wounded child. Loretta is a mirror to a younger Raylan with a twist of female trauma. it's a funhouse mirror into his past.

My unpopular opinion about this character: he's a daddy dom sorry to the haters but that's what he is in my heart. me and the other justies into that are gonna keep being happy about it in our corner of the fictional sandbox 🖤

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: don't like the becoming a dad plotline, sorry. his romance with winona was eye-roll more to me and when they had winona get pregnant i put my face in my palms and groaned. wish it hadn't happened and they had given him a juicy career focus instead. the only saving grace to the whole dad thing is how both Justified and JCP stayed true to Raylan's character and portrayed him as being a crappy father.

(give me a character ask meme)

[emistations]

If we do them by tiers...

S - Eitaro Toyoda, Shiro Maekawa, and Kiyoko Yoshimura (writer of X & Unleashed): Wrote my favorite era of the franchise! Best stories & characterizations imo.

A - Tyson Hesse: just based off his Tailstube writing sometimes, he understands the characters & i'd love to see his take on everything!

As well as Daniel Barnes, writer of Scrapnik Land (really good story), and Iasmin Omar Ata (writer of Winter Jam)

B - Ian Flynn: He's decent Imo, I loved his archie run and he's the reason I GOT to like archie, but his idw/game run is just ok. He has ideas, but the execution is hit or miss.

C - Evan Stanley: Same as Ian but to a lesser degree, but also the fact that in her writing runs, characters seem to have flaws that contradict their actual personalities (ex: Sonic straining an ankle when he's known to fall from space multiple times unharmed). Sometimes it feels like her & Ian's writing is a little limited creatively as told in this post I liked.

D - Pontac & Graff - Who would've thought? I actually don't hate them as much as I thought! I'll admit, when writing light-hearted stories they excel, but when it comes to serious situation that lightheartedness BLEEDS into the serious stuff and it all falls flat. Their jokes are 90% miss and 10% hit. I admit to having laughed at some point. But, they caused a lot of character misconceptions & plotholes that the creative team has to fix now (when really they could've just made a soft reboot.)

And finally... Ken penders. Should be obvious why.

2. Yes! It would be, and that could make for an interesting plot! I'm not against the idea of Sonic representing freedom, but he also represents being selfishly free. He would always be there to stop Surge & she'd think he's a hypocrite for it, it'd make it hard for her to see things from Sonic's perspective, and Sonic wouldn't be able to just get through to her with just fists. It could make for an interesting plot to explore Surge's background BEYOND her & Kit's past with Starline. It could be the turning wheel to help Sonic adjust his approach, too.

@fazar234 I dunno why Tumblr doesn't let me normally answer your questions

[weirdoldstans]

(some of the anon suggestions you get are just *chefs kiss* inspiring)

These two naughty boys were going to be the death of him. Fiddleford sighed as he dragged a reluctant Ford across his knee, and pulled his diaper down.

He caught the two going at it like rabbits again. Normally he didn't mind, he loved watching the two playfully explore each other as their lust for one another took over.

Especially since afterwards they enjoyed sharing alone time with their papa.

But they weren't supposed to play with each other like that unless he was there to supervise. Their adorably thick diapers sometimes made it hard to thrust correctly, or if they pulled them down too far then when one inevitably wet themselves, it would get their cute onesies and the mattress all dirty.

Or if one was feeling particularly uncoordinated that day, someone could fall and hurt themselves. The rules were there for a reason.

Fiddleford told them that dry humping was perfectly okay and so was a little fingering, but under no circumstances should they do anything further without supervision.

So when Fiddleford put them down for a nap, he was surprised to see Ford fucking the daylights out of Stan after about twenty minutes of quiet.

It wasn't even the first round if the amount of cum splattered on the mattress was anything to go by.

He hauled the naughty boys up by their ears and put Stan in the corner as he led Ford away to the other room for his punishment.

He had to do this, as both didn't like seeing the other get punished and would actively try and stop their Papa.

For now, with the wonder twins separated, Fiddleford could concentrate on the spanking at hand.

“Now Stanford, baby boy, sometimes we get all riled up and in need of release, but you need to ask fer permission to do such big boy activities with yer brother.”

Tears dribbled down Ford's face as he hung there, taking his due punishment. “Sowwy papa! We tried!”

Fidds tsked and spanked along Ford's under curse where his plump bottom met his thighs, eliciting a wounded gasp. “Now don't try and lie. I had the monitor on me the entire time. Neither of you impish creatures called out for me to help you. I rather bet you both tried to be sneaky about it.”

Ford wouldn't admit it out loud, but yeah, that's pretty much what happened. Stan just looked so good, and he didn't wanna wait until Papa came in to set them up properly.

Scrubbing his eyes against his papa's leg, Ford waited out his punishment with decorum. As much as one could when Papa could lift them both and had a hand harder than a cast iron skillet.

But, soon it was over with and Ford was led back to the nursery and sat down on the tiny wooden stool in his designated naughty boy corner.

Fiddleford then turned his attention to Stan. Stan, unlike his twin, was far more sensitive and has already started crying, begging his papa to not spank him. Fidds only smoothed back his hair and gently took him by the arm to the other room for his own punishment.

“Stanley, little one.” Fiddleford lectured. “You know the rules just as much as Stanford does and I know fer a fact that you could have easily bucked him off and called to get me.” Stan's face turned crimson. “Tell me, did you lower your diaper for him?”

Reluctantly he nodded.

“And you know that little boys aren't supposed to touch their diapers right? That's Papa's job.”

He nodded again.

“Then you also know you deserve this punishment just as much as Stanford.”

“M’ sowwy.” Stan tried but Fidds would have none of it. Taking Stan by the wrist he tugged him over his knee too and tugged his diaper down. Evidence of the brothers’ illicit coupling still leaked out from between his cheeks. Still, Fiddleford set to righting wrongs and spanked Stan good and hard until he cried, his bottom looking just as red as his twins.

Gotta match the sets of course.

When all was said and done, Fiddleford assumed he'd have two complacent and subdued boys who really should take their nap now but as soon as he let the two of them hug it out to comfort the other, he watched, a tad bemused, as they started to frot against one another, completely ignoring their stinging, red cheeks.

Oh, what was he to do with these boys? Welp, no time like the present to try out his latest invention.

***

“Alrighty boys, I think this should learn you two. Again, nothin’ wrong with havin’ all that energy pent up but I think this will help you both learn to ask permission fer things you want first.”

He trussed both of them up in the thickest diapers they owned, ones that made it nearly impossible to walk, making one crawl instead. He then buckled their mittens into place so naughty fingers couldn't reach things that shouldn't and then gagged both of them with their pacifier gags.

The cherry on top was the vibrating plugs nestled so nicely into their new homes.

“There we are.” He patted Stan on the butt as he finished sliding his booties on. “Now, since you two have too much energy, I'll let y'all burn it off. But those plugs don't come out and those diapers don't come off until they're soaked. All those little stars should be missin’ befire either of you think to ask for a change.”

Both his boys gave him wounded looks until he held up the remote to their plugs. It was his latest invention, and one he was rightly proud of. The vibrations of Stan’s plug would match Ford's heartbeat, and vice versa. By the time one of them came, the vibrations would be going so fast the other would be sure to follow. Ah, he loved overstimulating his babies.

With a smile he flicked on the remote and sat to watch the squirms and gasps that followed.

Good thing both had just drank all their milk too.

AHHH NICE!!

i love the twins just being too into each other to keep their hands to themselves...gotta be as close to their brother as possible!!

and AHHH fiddleford padding them up good!! getting them all babied up!! THE HEARTBEAT PLUGS I'M GONNA FUCKKNNG CRYYY THAT'S SO CUTE...

thank you!!!